Donald Trump said he had been briefed on Navy pilots reporting heightened sightings of unidentified flying objects, adding he does not believe in UFOs in particular.
Speaking in an interview segment published Saturday by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, Trump lifted his eyebrows and laughed when questioned what he was thinking about the reports.
“I want them to think whatever they think,” Trump said of the Navy pilots. “I did have one very brief meeting on it. But people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.”
In reply to reports of sophisticated vessels intruding on Navy strike groups the Navy recently drafted new guidelines on how to report encounters with “unidentified aircraft.”
According to The New York Times, pilots recorded seeing strange objects flying at 30,000 feet without exhaust feathers and at supersonic rates.
The Pentagon silently set up a program at Congress headquarters to study UFOs more than 10 years ago. The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program was largely driven by former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and operated with extremely limited public exposure, although it was not a classified program.
When asked if Trump would know of any extraterrestrial life, he demurred and said: “I think our great pilots would know. And some of them see things a little bit different from the past. … We’re watching, and you’ll be the first to know.”
