Donald Trump stated that Air Force pilots described witnessing a round, unidentified object traveling at three times the speed of an F-22 fighter jet, according to an interview aired on CBS' "60 Minutes." Trump also pledged to investigate allegations that a clandestine government program studying UFOs might be operating without presidential knowledge.
During the interview, Trump recounted conversations with pilots he described as "great, great pilots" who shared "very strange" encounters. He elaborated on one instance involving an F-22, the military's top fighter jet, when "something goes by them at three times their speed. And it's round. It's not aerodynamic."
Trump did not specify when or where this encounter occurred, nor did he identify the pilots. He indicated that he would seek information on potential secret government UFO programs following the interview.
These remarks come weeks after the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) released declassified records detailing UFO sightings over several decades. One account from 2026 described federal agents observing a silent, matte-black triangular object ascend vertically over a mountain ridge before rapidly accelerating into a canyon. The witnesses reported no visible means of propulsion and noted that thermal equipment showed a uniform heat signature across the object's surface. The Pentagon report stated the object's speed was an estimate by witnesses rather than a measured value.