Barack Obama clarifies comment about aliens after saying they are real

Former US President Barack Obama has clarified remarks he made about aliens after comments during a recent podcast appearance sparked widespread online reaction.

Obama had appeared on the podcast hosted by Brian Tyler Cohen, where he was asked directly whether aliens are real. In response, he said, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” before joking that extraterrestrials were not being hidden at Area 51 and that there was no underground facility, unless there was an “enormous conspiracy” being kept even from him.

The remark quickly gained traction online, prompting speculation that the former president had confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life.

In a follow-up statement, however, Obama walked back any suggestion that he had inside knowledge of alien contact. He explained, “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.”

He added, “But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”

Obama’s original remarks were widely shared across social media platforms, fueling renewed debate over long-standing conspiracy theories about alien life and secret government facilities.

During the same interview, he also addressed a separate controversy involving former President Donald Trump sharing a video depicting him and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes, dismissing it as part of what he described as a “clown show.”

Despite the online frenzy surrounding his comments, Obama appeared unbothered, later attending the NBA All-Star Game courtside with Michelle.

His clarification makes clear that while he acknowledges the statistical possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, he saw no evidence of alien contact during his time in office.