PRESIDENT Donald Trump must know America’s UFO secrets - and it may have contributed to his plans for a military Space Force, according to a defence insider.

Nick Pope, who used to run the Ministry of Defence’s UFO project, said it would be “nonsense” to suggest the President is being kept in the dark about potential UFO threats, as some conspiracy theorists believe.

5 Donald Trump must know about America's UFO secrets, according to Nick Pope

Startling video shows stunned Navy fighter pilots encountering a white UFO - shaped like a Tic Tac - off the coast of Mexico

Pope - often dubbed the real-life Fox Mulder for his official UFO research - says Trump must know about the Pentagon’s secret UFO research project - AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program), which was uncovered earlier this year.

He will be aware that the influential US Armed Services Committee has been investigating the money spent on the shadowy AATIP project, according to Pope.

Trump will also know that a Senate committee is currently investigating a 2004 incident in which US Navy pilots chased and filmed an unidentifiable white “tic-tac” shaped object which travelled at “balistic missile speed” off the coast of Mexico, Pope said.

Pope believes that this knowledge may have contributed towards the president's plans to create a Space Force, a new military branch dedicated to fighting wars in space.

The Space Force is due to be created by 2020, and has been championed by Trump, who tweeted in August: "Space Force all the way!"

5 Pope used to run the MoD's UFO programme which was axed in 2009

Pope told Sun Online: “There are conspiracy theories suggesting President Trump's plans for a Space Force reflect a need to protect Earth against hostile aliens. There were similar conspiracy theories about President Reagan's Star Wars plan.

“While there may not be an alien connection, President Trump surely knows all of America's UFO secrets - some of which were released earlier this year as part of the AATIP project - and this may have contributed to his keenness to develop a military Space Force.

“And of course he knows that the two key battlespaces in any future conflict are going to be cyberspace and outer space, so it's vitally important for the US to dominate those battlespaces.

5 US Navy pilots chased and filmed an unidentifiable white “tic-tac” shaped object in 2004 Credit: US Department of Defense

“In the 2016 Presidential campaign both Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta made some fairly strong 'pro-UFO' statements, but we don't know what President Trump knows or thinks about the issue.

“He'll know that the House Armed Services Committee is taking an interest in the Pentagon's AATIP project, which looked at the UFO phenomenon, and he'll know that the Senate Armed Services Committee is looking into the 2004 incident where US Navy pilots chased and filmed a UFO around the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.

“But we don't know - for example - whether he supports the move to hold formal Congressional hearings on this.”

Ex-MoD UFO investigator Nick Pope's top 10 most controversial UFO videos

Pope says that despite the conspiracy theories it was unbelievable to think that Trump would not know about any UFO secrets the US may be keeping from the public.

And he even suggested that those conspiracy theorists currently waiting for full disclosure of the US government's extra-terrestrial knowledge

“Many people in the UFO community believe in a conspiracy so vast, shadowy and deep that even the president doesn't know,” he said.

“They use phrases like 'need to know' and 'plausible deniability' to suggest POTUS is out of the loop.

“This is nonsense. If the US had proof that aliens have visited Earth, the President would have to know, because in his role as Commander-in-Chief he might have to make immediate top-level strategic decisions, if the situation suddenly became hostile.

5 Many conspiracy theorist believe that even the US president wouldn't know if aliens had visited earth or not

“The President needs to know all the big, important things, as part of a culture of no surprises. If anyone in the military industrial complex is keeping UFO secrets from President Trump, or suggesting he keep quiet about things, they may be in for a rude awakening.

“He's a particularly forceful and strong-willed president, and won't take kindly to being kept in the dark or told how to play the UFO issue.

“The UFO community fantasize about 'Disclosure' - maybe President Trump will just Tweet it one evening.”

5 Donald Trump signing his Space Policy Directive calling on the Pentagon and Department of Defence to begin plans to set up a Space Force Credit: AP:Associated Press

Pope, who ran the UK’s now defunct UFO project from 1991 to 1994 said he hopes the president takes an interest in the issue - and would be happy to use his expertise to help him.

“I hope President Trump takes a personal interest in this and I'd be happy to get involved,” he said.

“The UK government axed its UFO project in 2009, so there's no current subject matter expert, but having done this job in the Nineties I'm happy to help in any presidential briefings and Congressional hearings, to explain what some of us in the MoD concluded about the threats and opportunities that arise from the UFO phenomenon, whatever its true nature.”

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The Pentagon and US Department of Defence have been tasked with creating the new force to ensure what Trump called "American dominance" of space.

It will be the sixth branch of the US armed forces — alongside the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Trump said he wants to counter Russian and Chinese developments in space tech.

And he said he wants US agencies to "implement a state-of-the-art framework for space traffic management".

Announcing the decision on 18 June 2018, Trump said: "We are going to have the Air Force, but we are going to have the Space Force — separate but equal."

Vice President Mike Pence later said Space Force was needed to ensure America's dominance in space amid heightened competition and threats from China and Russia.

He added that while space was once peaceful and uncontested, it was now crowded and adversarial.

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