Donald Trump has described private Oval Office meetings with Air Force pilots who told him they had witnessed “very strange” UFO sightings.
Speaking on the CBS programme 60 Minutes, the US president said he was not “too much of a believer” in unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, but had been persuaded by accounts from servicemen he regarded as credible.
“I’m not too much of a believer, but I sat in the Oval Office, first term and a little bit second term, meeting with Air Force pilots that are really good, solid people,” Mr Trump said.
“These are not people you would say are conspiracy theorists. They don’t even know what it means. But they’re great, great pilots.”
He said the pilots had told him about objects travelling at extraordinary speeds near their aircraft.
“They said that in certain cases. They said yes, there’s something going on out there,” Mr Trump said. “Because 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, it’s round.”
Mr Trump was also asked whether he knew of a secret government programme concerning UFOs that had allegedly been kept from previous presidents.
“No, I haven’t heard that,” he said, before adding: “But if there is, I’m gonna find out about it right after this interview.”
He said UFOs were among the subjects he was most frequently asked about in private, including by people who might not be expected to show an interest in the topic.
“It is one of the questions in private I get asked about. More people ask me about UFOs than [anything else],” Mr Trump said.
