A US pilot who was rescued after his plane was shot down in Iran chillingly recalled being swarmed by Iranian drones that moved together in unison in a jellyfish-like formation.
“Multiple drones interconnected and moving as one with smaller drones below the bigger drones like legs,” one of the sources familiar with the pilot’s witness account told CNN.
“Real alien s–t,” the source added.
The F-15 pilot shared the alarming encounter in a debriefing with intelligence officials after the April incident — which could indicate that Iran has significantly increased its military drone capabilities, according to CNN.
How the fighter jet was downed remains under investigation, but the drone formation — which one source told CNN the pilot described as a “minefield of drones” hovering in the air — may have helped Iran take the F-15 down.
The pilot and a weapons systems officer both ejected from the jet on Good Friday — the first time in the conflict a US plane was shot down in Iranian skies.
The pilot was quickly rescued hours later on April 3, but the weapons officer, who was seriously injured, had been forced into hiding in the Zagros Mountains for more than a day after Iran placed a bounty on his head.
It’s not clear if the weapons officer witnessed the Iranian drones, according to CNN.
Intelligence officials have been debating what to make of the pilot’s account, and whether he remembered the incident clearly after suffering a concussion in the crash.
The same pilot had been involved in a friendly-fire incident in Kuwait on March 2 in which Kuwait’s defense forces accidentally fired on three F-15E Strike Eagle jets. All six crew members were forced to eject and landed safely within the allied nation.
During the rescue operation for the pilot, a US helicopter was struck by small arms fire but landed safely, despite several crew members being wounded.
The search for the weapons officer, who had a $60,000 price on his head, was significantly more difficult and dramatic, involving SEAL Team 6, a CIA ruse, and a forward airstrip quickly constructed in hostile territory.
The officer reportedly managed to scale a 7,000-foot ridge to evade capture for 36 hours with just a handgun for defense while American drones pounded nearby Iranian forces with missiles if they got close to his position.
At the same time, the CIA pulled off a diversion — planting fake intel that he had already been rescued and was being driven out of Iran, the New York Times reported.
The operation involved landing multiple transport aircraft on an ad-hoc landing strip deep in Iranian territory just south of the city of Isfahan after the officer’s emergency beacon was tracked to the mountain.
Two MC-130J helicopters — each worth around $100 million — were demolished in place so as not to fall into enemy hands after they became stuck on the strip.
There were no US deaths among the rescue team, and all the commandos and the weapons officer involved returned safely, officials said.
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