Barack Obama clears up alien comments: ‘I saw no evidence’

Feb. 16 (UPI) — Former President Barack Obama readdressed the existence of aliens after saying on a podcast that they are real over the weekend.

In an Instagram post on Sunday Obama said he has not seen evidence of the existence of aliens despite earlier saying that they are real. The clarification followed his appearance on a podcast with political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday.

“Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” Obama posted. “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!”

In the podcast interview published on Saturday, Obama said that aliens do exist, though this was during a segment of the show dedicated to quickfire-style questions. He also noted during this interview that he had not seen aliens.

“They’re real but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51,” Obama said. “There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”

Obama’s initial comments quickly garnered attention, leading Obama to address the attention and add clarity.

The podcast was not the first time Obama has commented on the existence of aliens. In an appearance on The Late Late Show in 2021, Obama said he asked about aliens when he became the president

“The truth is that when I came into office, I asked,” Obama said. “‘All right, is there a lab somewhere where we’re keeping the alien specimens and spaceship?’ And they did a little bit of research and the answer was no.”