A US fighter jet pilot shot down over Iran reportedly told intelligence officials he witnessed a swarm of Iranian drones moving together in unison in a ‘jellyfish’ formation before he ejected from his aircraft. The F-15 pilot shared the terrifying account with officials in a debrief after he was rescued by US special forces in April, sources told CNN, which noted the incident would signal a major advancement in Iranian drone capabilities. “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 account told the publication.“Real alien s***.” Another source said the unnamed pilot witnessed a “minefield of drones” in the air.According to CNN, intelligence officials disagreed on whether the pilot’s recollection of the incident was clear, given he was concussed in the crash.One source claimed the pilot was asked a question to the effect of “Are you sure you saw what you are saying you saw?”Brett Velicovich, a drone expert and founder of Powerus, told the New York Post, the report indicates Iran was ramping up its drone program.“They are adapting faster than us,” he said. “Iran has spent years developing capabilities designed to offset the overwhelmingly conventional advantages of the United States and its allies.”The F-15 jet – which was carrying the pilot along with a weapons system officer – was shot down by Iranian forces over southern Iran on April 3. Both crew members successfully ejected form the aircraft. The pilot was rescued by US forces hours after ejecting, while the weapons system officer – who was seriously injured – was rescued after hiding in the Zagros Mountains for over a day.“Thousands of these savages were hunting him down,” US President Donald Trump told Axios of the weapons systems officer.“Even the population was looking for him. They offered people a bonus if they captured him.”The exact circumstances surrounding the downing of the jet is still be investigated by US officials. A second US aircraft, an A-10, was shot down during the rescue operation but the pilot also ejected safely and was rescued. Sources told CNN that the F-15 was one of six crewmen mistakenly shot down in a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti forces earlier in March. All crew members ejected safely at the time.Without missiles, Iran would be ‘just like Gaza’Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and thousands of drones at its Gulf neighbours and Israel during the Middle East war. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that without missiles, his country would have ended up “just like Gaza”, insisting that its ballistic program was non-negotiable. “If the missiles we have for our defence did not exist, Israel and the United States would have ploughed Iran just like Gaza, showing no mercy to either the old or the young,” he said during a visit to Pakistan, a key mediator in talks between Tehran and Washington seeking a permanent end to the conflict. “We will never negotiate with anyone, under any circumstances, ever, about our defensive capabilities,” he added.Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meanwhile confirmed that a preliminary agreement signed by the US and Iran, alongside the mediating parties, made no mention of ballistic missiles. “There cannot be double standards … that some countries can have ballistic missiles and Iran shouldn’t have. You cannot digest this duplicity,” Mr Sharif said. Iran’s missiles were initially developed to compensate for its weak air defences during the war with Iraq in the 1980s, and have since only gained range and accuracy. Israel, located 1,500 kilometres away from Iran, has longed viewed the program as an existential threat. – With AFP