Barack Obama’s quick answer on a podcast set off a digital frenzy, forcing the former U.S. president to spell out exactly what he meant about extraterrestrial life.
The moment came during a rapid-fire segment with host Brian Tyler Cohen, who posed a blunt question: “Are aliens real?”
“They’re real,” Obama replied. He quickly added, “But I haven’t seen them. And, they’re not being kept in Area 51.”
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Clipped and shared widely online, the exchange sparked speculation that Obama had confirmed more than he intended. By Sunday, he took to Instagram to rein in the narrative.
“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. 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!”
His clarification leaned on probability, not conspiracy. The universe may be immense, he suggested, but that does not translate into documented encounters on Earth, at least not during his time in office.
Area 51 inevitably entered the conversation. The highly classified military installation in Nevada has, for decades, been central to UFO lore and government cover-up theories.
Although the CIA formally acknowledged the base’s existence in 2013, it did not validate claims of alien crashes, mysterious beings, or faked lunar missions. Declassified records finally identified the sprawling 8,000-square-mile facility after years of official silence, the AP reported.
Historically, the site has served as a testing hub for advanced aircraft programs. The U-2 spy plane took shape there in the 1950s, followed years later by projects such as the B-2 stealth bomber.
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