Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has confirmed that he personally spoke with military pilots about the strange objects President Donald Trump described during a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Loeb, who chairs the White House’s UAP Science Advisory Council, called the pilots’ accounts “quite reliable and puzzling” during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Jesse Weber Live” on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The back-and-forth has put a fresh spotlight on decades of unusual sightings reported by trained aviators and on the scientific effort to explain what those objects actually are.
The story began when Trump told 60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat that Air Force pilots had shared details of encounters they could not easily explain. Trump said the pilots were “the real deal” and described one case involving an F-22 fighter jet and a round object that passed at what the pilots estimated was three times the jet’s speed. Trump also said he remains “not too much of a believer” and has seen no proof of a hidden government program studying such objects.
What Trump Said on 60 Minutes
Trump’s remarks aired during a wide-ranging interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes on November 8, 2026. Asked whether anything he had seen, heard, or been told made him think there was more to unidentified objects in the sky, Trump pointed to meetings he held in the Oval Office during both of his terms.
“These are not people that you would say are conspiracy theorists,” Trump said of the pilots. “They’re great, great pilots. They’re the real deal. And they’ve told me things that are very strange.”
Trump then repeated the account of the F-22 encounter. “They’re flying an F-22, which is the best there is, the fastest, the best plane that anyone’s ever seen,” he said. “And something goes by them at three times their speed, and it’s round. It’s not aerodynamic, it’s round.”
Trump did not name the pilots or say when or where the encounter took place. He also floated the idea that the object could have been a comet, a comparison that scientists have said does not hold up because comets travel in deep space and appear motionless from Earth’s surface.
Avi Loeb Confirms He Spoke to the Pilots
Loeb’s response came during a Tuesday appearance on NewsNation. The Harvard physicist said he had spoken directly with some of the pilots whose accounts Trump described.
“Yes, I did speak to some pilots,” Loeb said. “And indeed, these reports are quite reliable and puzzling.”
Loeb explained that the pilots are highly trained professionals who rely on advanced instruments and are unlikely to misread what they see. “These are people who are well-trained,” he said. “And they do not hallucinate. They use their best instruments.”
The UAP Science Advisory Council, which Loeb leads, is reviewing the evidence presented by aviators. Loeb said the group plans to continue discussions on the reported sightings and would work with the Pentagon on better ways to observe and measure such objects.
Why the Reports Are Scientifically Difficult to Explain
The core puzzle, according to Loeb, is not simply speed. It is the absence of effects that should come with high-speed travel through the atmosphere.
“The puzzle is if they move faster than the speed of sound such an object, since it’s round, should create a shock wave, a blast wave in the air, and that was not observed,” Loeb said. “And there is a lot of friction in objects the faster they move through air. So there must be something to do with the way the objects move through air that we don’t fully understand, in addition to the propulsion. It’s a work in progress.”
Pilots have also consistently reported seeing no visible signs of propulsion, which makes the sightings even harder to square with known aircraft technology.
A New Observatory and a New Way to Look
Loeb is not relying on interviews alone. He said a new observatory project is starting in Ithaca, New York, at the former residence of astronomer Carl Sagan. The plan is to install a passive radar system within a year that would continuously scan the sky and direct a large telescope toward any object of interest.
“The project is now starting,” Loeb said. “Within a year, we hope to put a passive radar system that will scan the sky and then steer a large telescope towards an object of interest. That was never done before.”
The telescope would be meter-sized and capable of capturing high-resolution images and spectral data. That spectral information would allow researchers to study what the object is made of after it is detected. If the concept works, similar systems could be deployed with Pentagon support in locations considered important for future observations.
The Pentagon’s Own Files Add Context
Trump’s comments came just weeks after the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) released its seventh batch of declassified records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena on October 23, 2026. The release included dozens of historical files and modern incident summaries covering radar tracks and encounters reported by military personnel and federal agents.
Among the accounts was a 2026 report from federal law enforcement agents who described a matte-black triangular object rising vertically above a mountain ridge, hovering silently, and then accelerating into a canyon at a speed they compared to a fighter jet. The witnesses reported 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 linked to a propulsion system.
The object was never identified. The Pentagon report noted that its speed was estimated by witnesses rather than measured by instruments, a detail that matters for anyone trying to draw firm conclusions from the account.
Who Is Avi Loeb and Why His Voice Carries Weight
Loeb is a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard University and one of the most visible scientists working on the question of whether any unusual aerial objects could be artificial in origin. He gained wide public attention in 2017 after the discovery of ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to pass through the solar system, when he argued that its unusual properties deserved serious scientific consideration rather than immediate dismissal.
In June 2026, Loeb was appointed to lead the UAP Science Advisory Council, a panel created under the Trump administration to advise the White House and the U.S. intelligence community on unidentified aerial phenomena. The council’s stated aim is to publish its findings in peer-reviewed journals and to push for the release of data that has historically stayed classified.
Loeb’s appointment has drawn criticism from some scientists who argue that he has made premature claims about possible extraterrestrial life. That debate is part of why his comments on the pilots’ reports carry weight in both public and scientific circles.
What the Pilots’ Reports Mean for the Public Record
The pilots’ accounts are not new in kind. Military aviators have reported unusual objects in the sky for years, and the Pentagon has been collecting and releasing related records in batches. What is different in this case is the direct line between the president’s public remarks and a scientist who says he has spoken to the pilots involved and found their reports credible.
The White House has also promoted a higher level of transparency around UFO records than previous administrations. In February 2026, Trump directed federal agencies to review and declassify government archives related to UFOs and potential extraterrestrial life. The Defense Department launched a dedicated website in May 2026 to publish previously restricted files, including cockpit camera footage, sensor telemetry, pilot interview transcripts, and witness testimonies.
The latest AARO release on October 23, 2026 was part of that rolling disclosure process. The records do not confirm any extraterrestrial origin for the objects. They do, however, document that trained observers—pilots and federal agents among them—have reported objects that do not match known aircraft or natural phenomena.
The Scientific Work Is Still in Progress
Loeb’s public position is that the reports deserve investigation, not belief or disbelief. The pilots’ observations are consistent enough and come from credible enough sources that the next step is better data: sharper sensors, continuous sky monitoring, and spectral analysis that can tell researchers what these objects are made of.
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The passive radar and telescope project in Ithaca is one attempt to get that data. The UAP Science Advisory Council is another. Whether either effort produces a definitive answer is unknown, but the effort itself marks a shift from anecdote to measurement—a shift that Loeb has argued is necessary if the question is ever going to be settled by evidence rather than by opinion.
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