No sign of alien contact, Obama says after podcast uproar
For decades, rumours have persisted that aliens are hidden at a secret US air base in Nevada
Former US president Barack Obama moved to clarify his remarks about aliens just hours after they sparked a global media frenzy, saying he has seen no evidence of extraterrestrial life, according to The Guardian.
Speaking over the weekend on a podcast hosted by American commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama appeared to suggest the existence of aliens during a rapid-fire question segment in which guests respond briefly to quick prompts.
Asked directly whether aliens are real, Obama replied: "They're real but I haven't seen them." He continued by dismissing conspiracy theories about secret facilities, saying they were not being hidden at Area 51 and joking that any such conspiracy would have had to be concealed even from the president.
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The comments quickly spread across international media, prompting eye-catching headlines suggesting the former president had confirmed alien life. Coverage included reports by Time highlighting the apparent admission and the speculation that followed.
Amid the growing attention, Obama posted a clarification on Instagram yesterday evening (15 February).
"I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify," he wrote.
"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!"
For decades, conspiracy theories have circulated claiming the US government is concealing extraterrestrial beings at the highly classified Nevada air force installation.
Interest in the site surged in 2019 after about 1.5 million people signed up online to "storm" the base. In reality, only around 150 social media influencers gathered near the airstrip, and the event ended anticlimactically, with a handful of arrests before evolving into a festival-like gathering.
Previously declassified documents released in 2013 shed light on the base's actual role, showing it was used for aerial testing of classified US projects, including the U-2 and Oxcart surveillance programmes.
According to the documents, the high-altitude testing of the U-2 aircraft produced an unexpected side effect — a sharp rise in reports of unidentified flying objects, as the planes were flying at altitudes unfamiliar to civilian observers at the time.
