Former intelligence official examines government investigations into UAPs
Retired Defense Intelligence senior executive Jay Stratton discusses government inquiries into unexplained aerial phenomena on ‘Special Report’ with Bret Baier. Stratton recounts startling military encounters involving black triangular aircraft, explores the potential national security implications and explains how the U.S. military used nuclear submarines as bait while tracking the mysterious objects.
President Donald Trump said Air Force pilots told him that a mysterious spherical object passed an F-22 fighter jet at three times its speed. He also promised to investigate claims that a secret government program examining UFOs could operate without the president’s knowledge.
Trump discussed the claims in an interview with correspondent Ross Douthat that aired Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Douthat asked whether anything Trump had seen, heard or been told suggested there was more to unidentified objects reported in the skies. Trump said he was “not too much of a believer,” but referred to conversations he had held 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, later joking about their appearance. “Young, handsome, they have beautiful, nice flat tops. I’d like to have a haircut just like them. They look perfect, like Tom Cruise.”
An image included in a 2026 FBI report shows a black triangular object above mountainous terrain. Federal agents said they saw a silent triangular craft hover over a ridgeline before rapidly entering a canyon. Officials have not established whether the image is an authentic photograph or a reconstruction. (Department of War)
Trump called the pilots “the real deal” and said they had shared accounts of “things that are very strange.”
He then recounted one reported incident involving an F-22.
“They’re flying an F-22, which is the best there is, the fastest, the best plane that anyone’s ever seen,” Trump said. “And something goes by them at three times their speed. And it’s round. It’s not aerodynamic.”
Trump did not disclose the pilots’ identities or provide the time and location of the alleged encounter.
President Donald Trump previously instructed the War Department to make UAP and UFO files public. (Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty Images)
MUST READ: Parents Say Gavin Newsom Spared Their Daughter’s Killer and Mocked Her Life
Douthat next asked Trump about whistleblowers’ allegations that the government runs a classified UFO research program that presidents themselves might not know about.
A screenshot from video showing an alleged unidentified anomalous phenomenon sighting in the northeastern United States in July 2025. The incident was described in files released by the DOW and initially obtained by the FBI. (DOW/FBI)
“No, and I haven’t heard that,” Trump replied. “But if there is, I’m going to find out about it right after this interview.”
Trump added that “a lot of very solid people” believe the allegations are accurate, although he said he remained personally doubtful.
A black-and-white surveillance image shows a UFO marked with a red circle. (iStock)
The outlet contacted the White House for comment.
Trump’s comments came weeks after the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) published a collection of recently declassified records covering UFO reports from several decades.
The records included a 2026 account from federal law enforcement agents who said they watched a matte-black triangular object rise vertically above a mountain ridge, hover without making a sound and then speed into a canyon at a rate they likened to that of a fighter jet.
The witnesses reported seeing no engines, rotors, exhaust or other recognizable propulsion system. Handheld thermal devices also detected an even heat signature across the object’s exterior instead of the concentrated heat generally linked to propulsion.
The object was not identified. The Pentagon report also said the speed estimate came from the witnesses and was not recorded by instruments.
