The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday that it had released a first batch of previously classified documents on unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, a subject that even fascinates President Donald Trump, who initiated this effort, AFP reports.

"These documents, hidden behind national security secrecy, have long and rightly fueled speculation, and now it is time for the American people to have direct access to them," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.

Donald Trump announced in February that he intends to ask federal agencies “to identify and release” files on aliens and UFOs.

AGERPRES