Which governments have released official statements about unexplained aerial phenomena or extraterrestrial life?
Executive summary
Multiple governments — most prominently the United States — have issued formal, public statements or held hearings on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), framing the issue in national-security and transparency terms; U.S. congressional hearings and new legislation are central examples [1] [2]. Available sources show intensive U.S. activity in 2024–2025 (multiple Oversight Committee hearings, proposed bills and amendments) but do not provide a comprehensive list of every national government that has released official statements on UAP or extraterrestrial life [3] [2] [4].
1. U.S. government: hearings, new offices and declassification pushes
The U.S. Congress has repeatedly held high-profile hearings about UAP, including a September 9, 2025 Oversight Committee hearing and earlier 2024 sessions titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth,” where lawmakers pressed for more transparency from the Department of Defense and the intelligence community [1] [5] [3]. Legislative responses include H.R.1187, the UAP Transparency Act, which would require the President to direct agencies to declassify UAP records and publish them online [2]. Members of Congress and task forces have also proposed independent review boards and a UAP records collection at the National Archives as part of NDAA amendments [6] [2].
2. The framing: national security, transparency and science
Congressional statements and hearings frame UAP as a mix of national-security risk and a public-transparency issue. Committee releases say the federal government “has failed to provide adequate information to Americans” on UAP programs and call for better whistleblower protections and declassification procedures [7] [3]. At the same time, commentators and panels in the reporting urge a shift from military secrecy toward science-driven, unclassified research — reflecting competing priorities in the public record [8] [9].
3. Who’s testifying — veterans, scientists and whistleblowers
Official U.S. hearings brought a broad mix of witnesses: former military personnel and veterans reporting encounters, scientists and policy experts pushing for rigorous study, and whistleblower advocates urging legal protections for those who disclose UAP-related information [5] [3] [10]. That mix fuels divergent narratives in official proceedings: some officials stress foreign-technology explanations, others press for transparency about possible non-human intelligence [11] [8].
4. Recent legislative momentum and oversight actions
Lawmakers drafted new proposals and prepared hearings through 2025 to strengthen government investigation and oversight of UAP. Reporting highlights bipartisan drafting of bills, planned hearings, and specific amendments to the NDAA that would move UAP records toward public archiving with time limits on classification unless national-security exemptions are certified [4] [6] [2].
5. What the sources do not show — global official statements beyond the U.S.
The materials provided are heavily U.S.-centric: they document congressional hearings, U.S. office names (like AARO) and specific bills [5] [2] [1]. Available sources do not mention which other national governments (if any) have issued formal, official statements about extraterrestrial life or equivalent large-scale declassification efforts; therefore a global inventory is not found in current reporting (not found in current reporting).
6. Conflicting interpretations and hidden agendas to watch for
Official U.S. messaging alternates between reassuring national-security management (emphasizing foreign-adversary tech) and admitting a transparency deficit (members calling out overclassification) — a tension that benefits both oversight advocates and national-security bureaucracies, each with different incentives [11] [3] [7]. Advocacy groups and media pushing “full disclosure” narratives may amplify whistleblower claims that the government is “hiding evidence,” while defense officials emphasize pilot safety and intelligence concerns [8] [3].
7. Bottom line for readers
If you want to track which governments have made official pronouncements beyond the U.S., current materials here won’t answer that comprehensively; they document an active U.S. policy and oversight cycle in 2024–2025 and specific U.S. bills and hearings pushing declassification and public archives [1] [2] [5]. For an authoritative global list, further reporting or official government repositories from individual countries would be needed — those are not covered in the supplied sources (not found in current reporting).