Trump recounts pilots’ reports of unusual aerial encounters

President Donald Trump said Air Force pilots had told him about unusual aerial encounters, including an object he described as round passing an F-22 fighter jet at three times its speed. His account came in an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat about unidentified flying objects and unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, the term used by the military for unexplained sightings.

Trump said he had met pilots in the Oval Office during both his first and second terms. He described them as credible professionals rather than conspiracy theorists, and said some of their accounts were difficult to explain. The reports he recounted were what he said pilots had told him; the interview did not include direct testimony from the pilots.

In describing the alleged F-22 encounter, Trump said the pilots told him something went past their aircraft at three times its speed and was round. The reports do not identify the pilots or provide flight records, sensor data or other independent evidence confirming the encounter.

Trump also said questions about UAP were among the subjects he was asked about most often. Asked whether a secret government program investigating sightings had...