On Sunday evening, one of the two U.S. Air Force officers rescued in April after their F-15 fighter jet was shot down during a mission in Iran broke his silence on “60 Minutes.” Dressed in his uniform, the weapons system officer—identified only by his mission call sign, Bravo, due to security concerns—sat down with Norah O'Donnell for the season 59 premiere. During the interview, Bravo described being ejected into Iranian airspace over a mountainous region and realizing that his parachute was not deploying properly, sending him free-falling toward the Earth.

"Based on my description and the injuries that I had, the professionals think I hit the ground, going somewhere between 70 and 100 mph," Bravo told O'Donnell.

The interview was unquestionably riveting, with Bravo detailing how despite a broken back and several other injuries he scaled a mountain and hid until elite rescue operators could retrieve him some 48 hours later. But how CBS News obtained the exclusive—which also featured interviews with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth—has raised eyebrows, particularly given the aggressive anti-press posture the Pentagon has assumed.