Trump Says Pilots Told Him of an Object Three Times Faster Than a Raptor

“I’m not a big believer,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes. He then recounted a visit from pilots to the Oval Office. According to Trump, Air Force pilots told him an object had passed a Raptor fighter jet at three times the jet’s speed. “It’s round. It’s not aerodynamic,” the president said.

What Trump Said About the Pilots

Trump offered no evidence of the incident and gave no details about when it happened. He described the pilots as people who weren’t conspiracy theorists and called them “great pilots, very great.” Asked whether a secret UFO research program existed that even presidents didn’t know about, he said he hadn’t heard of one. “But if there is one, I’ll find out right after the interview.” He didn’t say who would conduct the inquiry or when.

What the Pentagon Found

In July 2022, the Pentagon established the AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office), which investigates unidentified phenomena in the air, at sea, and in space. In March 2024, the office published a report concluding that there was no evidence U.S. officials had encountered aliens. Most sightings, the report said, involved ordinary objects that had been misidentified, while some cases required further investigation. The report added that secret military tests of spy planes and space technology in the 1950s and 1960s had prompted a wave of reports, and that 50 to 100 sightings were still being reported each month.

The Wall Street Journal, which obtained the report before its release, wrote that some conspiracy theories about Area 51 had been deliberately spread to conceal classified programs.

What Remains Unclear

The material available to us does not address the specific incident Trump described, and it’s unclear whether the inquiry he promised will take place at all.