Marco Rubio Says Mysterious 'Things' Are Flying Over US Military Bases: 'They're Not Ours'

Marco Rubio has said unidentified objects have been reported flying over US military installations and warned that the government must take the issue seriously, even as he pushed back against claims that the Trump administration is concealing definitive evidence of extraterrestrial activity.

The US secretary of state made the remarks during an interview published Tuesday on The Katie Miller Podcast, where he was asked about unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP.

'I don't know who it is. I don't know what it is,' Rubio said. 'But there are things flying over our military installations, and they're not ours, and we should look into this.'

Rubio framed the issue primarily as a national security concern rather than evidence of extraterrestrial activity. Objects reported in restricted or sensitive military airspace warrant investigation regardless of whether they ultimately prove to be drones, foreign technology, misidentified objects or something that remains unexplained.

The former Florida senator has been one of the more prominent political figures pushing for greater government scrutiny of UAP reports.

'People Do Believe We're Covering Something Up'

Rubio acknowledged that many Americans suspect the government is withholding information about UAP.

'People do believe we're covering something up,' he said. However, he pushed back against the suggestion that the Trump administration is sitting on definitive proof of extraterrestrial activity.

'If we knew, the president would be all over it,' Rubio said. 'There would be a primetime address. He would be showing the pictures and the videos.'

The comments come after President Donald Trump directed federal agencies earlier this year to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UFOs, UAP and possible extraterrestrial life.

The Pentagon began publishing material under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, or PURSUE, on 8 May. Additional batches have since included documents, photographs, audio recordings and videos collected from agencies including the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, NASA and Department of Energy.

Files Bring Questions, Not Answers

The released material has documented numerous reports of objects that witnesses or sensors could not immediately identify. However, the files have not established that the sightings involved extraterrestrial spacecraft or technology operated by a foreign adversary.

Some incidents remain unexplained based on the information released publicly, while the records vary considerably in age, quality and available supporting evidence. The releases therefore provide additional material for investigators without settling the broader debate over what lies behind individual UAP sightings.

Some disclosure advocates have also argued that the government's releases do not resolve longstanding allegations about recovered extraterrestrial technology or biological material. Rubio did not endorse those claims in the interview. Instead, he focused on the narrower national security question posed by unidentified objects reported near sensitive US facilities.

Rubio Says He Has Raised Issue for Years

Rubio said he had spent years pressing officials about UAP while serving in the Senate. He recalled that the subject sometimes changed the direction of interviews because unexplained objects attracted more interest than routine political questions.

'I don't have time for these questions about politics,' Rubio said, recalling his approach to the issue. 'Do you realise there's things flying over airspace? We don't know what they are.'

Rubio added that he has now 'surrendered that portfolio' to another official more directly responsible for investigating the issue. His comments are consistent with the position he has taken for years.

Regardless of theories about extraterrestrial life, unidentified objects operating around sensitive US military facilities warrant investigation because officials need to determine what they are and whether they pose a security risk.

Separate Security Concerns Surround Trump's Aircraft Switch

Rubio's interview emerged alongside separate reporting about an unusual security operation involving Trump following a NATO summit in Turkey.

Trump confirmed that security officials had instructed him to switch aircraft after authorities received information about a reported Iranian threat. Reuters reported that the president was covertly transferred to another government aircraft before later continuing his journey.

'I go by Secret Service and the military,' Trump said. 'They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane. I do what they say.'

There is no evidence linking the aircraft security operation to the UAP incidents discussed by Rubio. The two developments instead highlight separate national security concerns confronting the administration, one involving a reported threat against the president and the other involving objects whose origins or purposes have not always been identified.