Barack Obama stunned interviewers by declaring “they’re real” when asked about aliens, before scrambling to clarify he saw no evidence of extraterrestrials as president.
The former president made the eyebrow-raising remark during a rapid-fire exchange with interviewer Brian Tyler Cohen.
Asked point-blank, “Are aliens real?” Obama did not hesitate.
“Uh, they’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” he replied, before turning to one of America’s most enduring conspiracy theories.
Obama on Aliens:
“They’re real” “But I haven’t seen them. They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility — unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/LM1G7AWoF8
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) February 14, 2026
“And they’re not being kept in uh what is it? Area 51!” Obama continued.
“There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
The comment triggered headlines and online speculation, especially given the long-running theory that the federal government is hiding alien life at Area 51, the classified Air Force site in Nevada.
Aliens exist pic.twitter.com/jkOEJz9d5X
— POΞ ⚡️ (@poe_real69) February 15, 2026
Obama’s remarks amounted to a rejection of claims that the United States is secretly housing extraterrestrials at the base.
Declassified documents released in 2013 showed the facility was used for aerial testing programs, including the U-2 and Oxcart surveillance aircraft.
Literal former president says aliens are real and there are no follow up questions? pic.twitter.com/jGcgLLoGyy
— David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙♂️🌈 (@DavidLeavitt) February 15, 2026
Cohen pressed further, asking what question Obama most wanted answered upon entering the White House.
“Where are the aliens?” Obama shot back with a laugh.
The exchange ricocheted across media outlets around the world, forcing Obama to issue a clarification on Instagram Sunday evening.
“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,” he wrote.
Everyone turning into Walter Cronkite the moment after Obama says “aliens are real.” 😭 pic.twitter.com/MrHR4qTsSw
— Astral🛸 (@The_Astral_) February 15, 2026
“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!”
The clarification highlighted that despite the initial quip, Obama insists he encountered no proof of alien contact during his eight years in office.
The alien moment came during a broader conversation about his presidency and his life after leaving the White House.
Obama joked that any return to elected office would cost him his marriage.
“First of all, I’m not a politician anymore and I can’t be, right?” he began. “I mean, I guess technically I could run for, you know, city council or something, but I’m not in elected office. I don’t have levers of power. I’m term limited out.”
“And by the way, I believe in the Constitution and also I believe in my marriage and Michelle would divorce me if I even if I could run again,” he quipped.
He framed his post-presidential focus as a joint mission with former first lady Michelle Obama.
“Michelle and I still have the capacity, not just here in the United States, but globally, to inspire and motivate young people and invite them in to this process,” he said, pointing to their work through the Obama Foundation.
Obama argued that the next generation must lead institutional change.
“That’s going to come from the 20, 30-year-old’s who know firsthand what it means to not be able to buy a house,” he added.
“They’re the ones who are going to remake our institutions so that they are consistent with the values that are, I think, timeless.”
He highlighted the upcoming presidential center in Chicago, set to open in June, as a hub for that effort.
“There will be a museum with Michelle’s dresses since that’s what people want to see,” he added with a laugh.
“Our job as leaders is to lift up other leaders,” Obama said. “To empower others to find their gifts and help them exercise those gifts.”
The former president also weighed in on the state of American political discourse following a meme video shared by President Donald Trump.
The video, reposted on Truth Social, included a segment depicting Obama and Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on ape bodies.
The full Barack Obama “monkey video” portrays numerous elected officials, Republicans and Democrats, as Lion King-like characters, with Trump as a lion and king of the jungle.
Interesting how this fact is not being reported on. pic.twitter.com/nJz1IbSuDN
— Loomer Unleashed (@LoomerUnleashed) February 6, 2026
Obama warned that political standards are eroding. “First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” he remarked.
“It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction… you meet people… they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness, and there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television.”
Actor Kal Penn jumped into the Obama debate this week with a take that felt more reflective than defensive.
Penn, who left Hollywood and worked as an aide in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011, argued that judging Obama by today’s political standards misses how much the landscape has changed.
On the “Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know” podcast Wednesday, Penn pushed back on the idea that Obama wasn’t progressive enough.
“You can’t look back at 2009 with a 2025 lens and say this wasn’t progressive enough,” Penn said.
“And I will tell you why, it is that, of course, by a 2025 lens, Obama was not a progressive. That’s how you know progress worked.”
He suggested that the fact Obama now looks moderate to some Democrats actually proves the country moved in a more progressive direction over time.
“It’s a good thing. It’s a good luxury to be able to look back and be like that moderate, that dude who droned people and didn’t get healthcare passed the way that we wanted, that’s a great ability to have in 2025, because it means that things that he did get done are moderate by definition today because the needle was moved,” Penn continued.
Penn also rejected the idea that Obama could have governed in a far more sweeping way, arguing that the limits of the presidency and Congress mattered.
“The problem with this question is that the reality was he couldn’t be wildly radical, right?” Penn said.
“So even the Affordable Care Act at the time, even though the initial point of it was actually like a conservative model, but even then he barely got the Democratic votes to get it passed. And in retrospect, we’re like, ‘that’s all we got?’”
At the same time, Penn made clear he understands why some supporters walked away frustrated.
“People have a right to be disappointed. People have a right to celebrate,” he said.