The Week UFO Disclosure Got Closer Than Ever

Three major stories are converging in the UAP disclosure space this week, and each one points toward a government that may be closer to a public reckoning on the UFO topic than at any previous point in modern history.

The most talked-about development comes from the Pod Force One podcast, where Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump, revealed that her father-in-law reportedly has a prepared speech about extraterrestrial life that he is holding back until what he considers the right moment. She said that when she and her husband Eric asked the president directly what he knows about UFOs, he played coy, and that his manner on this specific subject was noticeably different from how he handles everything else. In her words, he is usually very open and frank unless it involves high national security. Sources within the Trump administration have separately indicated that the White House may move toward some form of public disclosure as early as July 2026, though that has not been officially confirmed.

On the same week, Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri posted a Newsmax interview directly to his own YouTube channel, a move worth noting given that the original Newsmax broadcast has been difficult to locate. In the interview, Burlison confirmed he is actively seeking access to multiple classified sites, a list that according to multiple reports includes Area 51, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, and an ocean test facility referenced in UAP research circles. He also described an overseas location where an object so large a building had to be constructed around it is allegedly being held. He declined to name the country, stating the information reached him in a classified setting. Dr. Steven Greer, appearing alongside Burlison, named South Korea specifically, citing a source with clearances across 18 black project programs who was briefed on the site between 2002 and 2010. Burlison stated on record that no government has the right to withhold from its people whether we are alone or not alone in this universe.

Adding to the week’s activity, according to The War Zone, two Air Force F-16 jets were scrambled before dawn on February 15th after a UPS cargo pilot reported a glowing and dimming object over Sacramento that air traffic controllers could not identify on radar. Multiple pilots confirmed seeing it. NORAD ultimately labeled both objects as weather balloons, though it is worth noting that the first object has no independent radio confirmation to support that conclusion. The object was not visible on radar, was described as glowing and dimming, and was seen by multiple professional pilots before being swiftly labeled a balloon once the jets returned. That pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. 

Eric Burlison (left), Rob Finnerty (center), and Steven Greer (right)

According to the most recent AARO data covering a 30-year period up to January 2026, balloons account for 52.1 percent of all UAP reports where a final identification was made. More than half of everything reported as unidentified by trained military and civilian pilots is being resolved with the same answer. 

It is also worth remembering that in February 2023, three separate objects were shot down over North American airspace in the days following the Chinese surveillance balloon incident, and only one was officially identified as a spy balloon. The others remain without a confirmed explanation. That same 2023 incident is what forced NORAD to change its radar filters, which had been quietly screening out slow-moving high-altitude objects for years. With the best tracking technology in the world now actively looking, the balloon explanation is being applied more than ever, and that alone raises questions worth asking.

Objects over North America in February of 2023

All of this follows former President Barack Obama stating that aliens are real, while questioning whether the information had been hidden from him as president. Dr. Greer has referenced a briefing document he says was provided to Obama’s senior adviser John Podesta in 2009, arguing that presidents have repeatedly been blocked from accessing the full picture. That argument has also been made under oath before Congress by former intelligence officer David Grusch, who now serves as a Special Advisor on Burlison’s congressional staff.

Sources

Altman, H. (2026, February 16). F-16s find balloons, not UFOs, after Sunday scramble: NORAD. The War Zone. https://www.twz.com/air/f-16s-find-balloons-not-ufos-after-sunday-scramble-norad

Congressman Eric Burlison. (2026, February 17). Rep. Eric Burlison discusses alleged large UAP object located overseas [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtrazl51NGY

Gomez, C. (2026, February 16). Obama said Aliens are real then walked it back 24 hours later. UFO News. https://www.ufonews.co/post/obama-said-aliens-are-real-then-walked-it-back-24-hours-later

Liberatore, S. (2026, February 1). Trump insiders told me the president has a bombshell speech revealing DECADES of UFO secrets ready to go. . . here’s when he will finally tell the world the truth. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15509591/Trumps-UFO-disclosure-speech.html

Pod Force One with Miranda Devine. (2026, February 18). Lara Trump: the one trait that makes the Trumps unbreakable and the advice she gave the President [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiW6SibCtto