Podesta's longtime fascination with UFOs is well-documented, as his brief political hiatus following four years as President Bill Clinton's chief of staff freed him up to pursue his otherworldly passion.

At a 2002 press conference organized by the Coalition for Freedom of Information, Podesta spoke on the importance of disclosing government UFO investigations to the public.

"It's time to find out what the truth really is that's out there,"  he said. "We ought to do it, really, because it's right. We ought to do it, quite frankly, because the American people can handle the truth. And we ought to do it because it's the law."

Following Podesta's tweet, Friday, the Washington Post recalled an exchange one of its reporters had with Podesta in 2007. Karen Tumulty had asked Podesta about reports that the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, had been bombarded with Freedom of Information Act Requests specifically seeking email correspondence to and from the former chief of staff including terms like "X-Files" and "Area 51." Podesta's response, through a spokesperson, was "The truth is out there," the tagline for the TV show "The X-Files" of which Podesta was known to be a fan.