Extraterrestrial

'Aliens are real but I haven't seen them', Obama says, then backtracks

By T.K. Randall
February 17, 2026

Image: President Barack Obama
Credit: Pete Souza / (PD) White House Speaking recently on a podcast with host Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama turned heads when, in response to a 'quick fire' questions round, he said "aliens are real, but I haven't seem them".

"They're not being kept in Area 51," he added. "There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."

It wasn't long before social media was alight with speculation over his comments, especially his reference to aliens being real - could this be the smoking gun everyone has been waiting for ?

His remarks attracted so much attention, in fact, that Obama was later forced to clarify what he meant.

"I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify," he said."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!"

In other words, when he said that "aliens are real", his comment had reflected his own personal view that there is alien life somewhere out in space, not that he knew about aliens visiting the Earth.

Not everyone is convinced by his comments, however, with some arguing that his original answer had let slip more than he intended, thus forcing him to dial back on what he meant.

Given the secret files he would have had access to as president, we may never know for sure whether Obama really does know anything about extraterrestrial visitors or not.

Source: IGN.com

Tags: Obama, Aliens