Obama Clarifies Stance on Aliens Following Viral Interview Remarks

Former President Barack Obama recently said aliens were "real" during an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen. He later walked back the claims on social media.

The Details: The admission happened during a rapid question round by Cohen, where he asked Obama whether aliens were real. Obama responded: "They're real, but I haven't seen them. And they're not being kept in Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States." Cohen also asked Obama what was the first question he wanted to know upon becoming president; Obama joked, "Where are the aliens?"

Clarifying Statement: Following the interview, Obama said on Instagram, "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there. But…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 Context: During a 2021 interview on "The Late Late Show with James Corden", Obama said there was "footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don't know exactly what they are." In 2021, the Pentagon was given a six-month deadline to provide an unclassified report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). Since then, Congress has heard several testimonies on alien sightings, including from military veterans in 2023 who said the US had recovered non-human "biologics" from alleged crash sites. According to YouGov (Center), roughly 56% of Americans believe aliens definitely or probably exist. 

How the Media Covered It: The story was covered similarly by outlets across the political spectrum, with many noting the online response the comments received. USA Today (Lean Left bias) described previous testimonies about UAPs, including publicly released videos. The Washington Post (Lean Left) noted "political pundits didn't discuss Obama's comments" and "many mainstream media outlets initially ignored the comments." Breitbart (Right) mentioned ongoing speculation surrounding Area 51 and that US government officials previously "refused to acknowledge" the site. Just the News (Lean Right) said the existence of extraterrestrial life has long captured the American imagination, but the government has never acknowledged the existence of alien life.

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