Barack Obama Walks Back Comments on Aliens Being Real: 'I Saw No Evidence' Meredith KileFebruary 16, 2026 at 10:21 PM 0 Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Barack Obama is clarifying his comments about aliens In a recent interview, when asked if aliens exist, Obama said, "They're real, but I haven't seen them" After the quote went viral, he walked it back a bit, saying, "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there" Barack Obama is clarifying his recent comments about the existence of alien life.
- - Barack Obama Walks Back Comments on Aliens Being Real: 'I Saw No Evidence'
Meredith KileFebruary 16, 2026 at 10:21 PM
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Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Barack Obama is clarifying his comments about aliens
In a recent interview, when asked if aliens exist, Obama said, "They're real, but I haven't seen them"
After the quote went viral, he walked it back a bit, saying, "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there"
Barack Obama is clarifying his recent comments about the existence of alien life.
The former president, 64, was recently interviewed by YouTuber and political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, and, during a rapid-fire round of questioning, was asked by Cohen if aliens were real.
"They're real, but I haven't seen them," Obama responded.
"And they're not being kept in... what is it? Area 51," he added, referencing the rumors about a classified U.S. Air Force facility in the Nevada desert. "There's no underground facility, unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
After his answer went viral, fueling conspiracy theorists everywhere, Obama took to Instagram to walk it back a little.
"I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify," he commented on a video from the interview. "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!" he added.
The topic of alien existence is one Obama has spoken on before. On a 2021 episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden, he joked that extraterrestrial life was one of the first things he asked about after taking office in 2009.
"The truth is, that when I came into office, I asked, 'Is there the lab somewhere where we're keeping the alien specimens and spaceship?' " he said.
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Elsewhere in his interview with Cohen, Obama responded to the recent controversy over a racist video shared on social media by President Donald Trump.
The since-deleted video that was posted to Trump's Truth Social account on Feb. 5, depicted Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes.
"It's important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling," Obama said. "It is true that it gets attention, that it's a distraction, but as I'm traveling around the country... you meet people [and] they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness. And there's this sort of clown show that's happening in social media and on television."
Obama diplomatically didn't mention Trump by name, but he didn't shy away from criticizing the current president's penchant for posting memes and crass comics about his political enemies.
"What is true is that there doesn't seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and the sense of propriety and respect for the office. That's been lost," he added.
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: February 16, 2026 at 07:01PM on Source: MARIO MAG
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