President Donald Trump said Air Force pilots have told him about a round object that flew past an F-22 fighter jet at three times its speed, and said he would look into claims that a secret government UFO program could exist without his knowledge.
Trump made the comments in an interview with correspondent Ross Douthat that aired Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” Asked whether anything he had seen or been told suggested there was more to unidentified objects spotted in the sky, Trump said he was “not too much of a believer,” but described conversations he has had with Air Force pilots in the Oval Office.
“These are not people that you would say are conspiracy theorists – they don’t even know what it means – but they’re great, great pilots,” Trump said, adding, “Young, handsome, they have beautiful, nice flat tops. I’d like to have a haircut just like them. They look perfect, like Tom Cruise.”
He called the pilots “the real deal” and said they had told him “things that are very strange.”
Describing one encounter, Trump said: “They’re flying an F-22, which is the best there is, the fastest, the best plane that anyone’s ever seen. And something goes by them at three times their speed. And it’s round. It’s not aerodynamic.”
Trump did not identify the pilots or say when or where the encounter took place.
Douthat also asked Trump about claims from alleged whistleblowers that the government runs a secret program studying UFOs that even presidents may not be told about. “No, and I haven’t heard that,” Trump said. “But if there is, I’m going to find out about it right after this interview.” He added that there are “a lot of very solid people” who believe such claims, though he said he remained skeptical himself.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Recent Pentagon disclosures
The remarks follow the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office recently releasing a batch of declassified records on UFO sightings spanning decades. Among them was a 2026 account from federal law enforcement agents who reported seeing a matte-black triangular object rise vertically above a mountain ridge, hover silently, then accelerate into a canyon at a speed they compared to a fighter jet.
The witnesses said they saw no visible engines, rotors, exhaust or other conventional means of propulsion. Handheld thermal equipment showed a uniform heat signature across the object’s surface rather than the concentrated heat typically associated with propulsion systems. The object was never identified, and the Pentagon report noted its speed was estimated by witnesses rather than measured by instruments.
