Donald Trump has promised to release government files on UFOs and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, telling a crowd at Turning Point USA this month, “ we found many very interesting documents”.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance has said he is “obsessed” with the search for aliens, which he believes are demons, rather than innocuous little green men. Their comments follow a slew of congressional hearings about the subject in recent years, as well as pronouncements from other political figures, such as Barack Obama.

Why has the search for extra-terrestrial life – a fascination that began in the 1940s in the US – become mainstream again? What deeper meaning are people seeking when they look to the skies?

Daniel Lavelle, an award-winning British journalist, set out on a road trip across the States to answer these questions for his forthcoming book, Chasing Aliens: Conspiracy in the UFO Heartlands, and he joins Tristan on today’s episode.

Producer: Hannah Moore

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Meteors in the night sky. Credit: Georgi Licovski/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock.