Trump's nominee for chief scientist of the USDA once claimed a UFO charged him at 5,000 miles per hour

(Image credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

published 25 August 2017

President Trump's nominee for chief scientist of the Department of Agriculture might seem like an odd pick for the job. After all, the position requires a "distinguished [scientist] with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics," and Trump's pick — radio host Sam Clovis — might not make the cut, The Daily Beast reports.

Plus there is the fact that Clovis once claimed he was charged by a UFO, as The Des Moines Register recounts:

[WHO Radio host Simon] Conway asked [Clovis] if he'd ever seen a UFO. Clovis started to say yeah, but then said, it's not that he actually saw it, but he knew it was there.His radar locked on it, and it was doing things our technology couldn't do, he explained. The UFO was traveling toward him at 5,000 mph — and we've got nothing that does that. It came to a complete stop, he said, then reversed away at 5,000 mph.Clovis said he handed over the radar track to officials.Spokesman Derek Dufresne noted later that his boss is "a veteran fighter pilot who has served his country with distinction, and he saw an unidentified object that was outside the norm and reported it to appropriate individuals." [The Des Moines Register]

Speaking with The Daily Beast, Conway said his question to Clovis "was jokey … something to laugh at" and "it was a very non-serious thing I was doing, it wasn't him."

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Others aren't convinced it was all a joke. "He is pretty crazy," one Iowa Republican said. Read more about Clovis at The Daily Beast.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.