Former U.S. Army counterintelligence official and UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo discusses the Pentagon’s release of UFO files and the national security implications on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’

A former Pentagon official who investigated unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAPs) says newly released government documents contain evidence that the U.S. has long treated UAPs as a serious national security issue — including claims involving recovered "non-human" materials dating back decades.

"There is an absolute treasure trove of information contained in this second tranche of information," Luis Elizondo said Tuesday, pointing to the latest data drop authorized for release.

Discussing the matter on "Jesse Watters Primetime," Elizondo marveled at the vast amount of information that stood out to him, including top-secret intelligence dating back to the 1940s that he says "very clearly" suggests the existence of UAPs.

"The reality is that this is a topic that our government has been taking very seriously for a very long time. We'd go to extreme lengths to try to cover it up, and this administration means business," he said.

UFO HEARING: EX-PENTAGON OFFICIAL SAYS GOVERNMENT 'CABAL' IS HIDING 'THE FACT THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE'

The ongoing release of declassified files is part of Trump’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) program, which made a second batch of documents public on Friday. (Getty Images Creatives)

"This administration is the first administration in my memory that's actually delivering on a promise to be more transparent and open with the American public about this topic," he added.

Elizondo continued, homing in on the mysterious findings and what they suggest. He also spoke about why the Pentagon may have fought so hard to keep the intel under wraps for decades.

The files dating back to the 1940s, he said, suggest the presence of extraterrestrial material is "very real" and is "certainly a national security issue."

UFO EXPERT WARNS MYSTERY CRAFT ARE OUTMANEUVERING US MILITARY IN RESTRICTED AIRSPACE

President Donald Trump speaks during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, N.Y., on May 22. Elizondo credited Trump's administration for approaching the UAP issue with transparency. (Ryan Murphy/AP)

"These things have been encountered over controlled U.S. Airspace and frankly can outmaneuver anything that we had and still have in our inventory," he warned.

Geopolitical tensions during the Cold War may partially be to blame for the longstanding secrecy, he argued, telling Watters that the U.S. government hid such details to avoid "tip[ping] our hands to our adversaries what technologies we were able to glean from this" or, perhaps, to conceal national security vulnerabilities.

"But I think the times have changed, and a lot of the old reasoning, I don't think, is valid anymore," he said.

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"I think the American public can handle the truth. I think the American public deserves the truth, and I know what I saw when I was at the Pentagon...

"I will say there are some concerns there because you're talking about a conversation that's going to require a lot of people to do soul-searching. You're talking something that's going to challenge everybody from a philosophical, a psychological, theological perspective, and even sociological perspective."

Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.

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