File photo of former US President Barack Obama. | Photo credit: AP
Former US President Barack Obama said on a weekend podcast that he has seen no evidence that aliens have “made contact with us” after he stunned social media by claiming that aliens are real.
During a lightning round of questions with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, Mr. Obama was asked, “Are aliens real?” asked.
“They’re real,” he replied: “But I haven’t seen them. And they’re not being kept in Area 51.”
On Sunday (February 15, 2026) night, the former president released a statement on Instagram clarifying what he meant by his comments, which have since gone viral.
“I’m trying to stick to the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, I’ll clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast, the odds are so good, there’s life out there. But the distance between solar systems is so great, the chances of us being visited by extraterrestrials are slim, and I’ve seen no extraneous connections during my presidency.
The mystery surrounding Area 51, a top-secret Cold War test site in the Nevada desert, has long fueled conspiracy theories among UFO enthusiasts.
In 2013, the CIA acknowledged the existence of the site, but not UFO crashes, black-eyed aliens or staged moon landings.
Declassified documents refer to the 8,000-square-mile (20,700-square-kilometers) installation by its name after US government officials refused to acknowledge it for decades.
In the 1950s the base was a test site for a host of top-secret aircraft, including the U-2 and later the B-2 stealth bomber.
Published – February 17, 2026 02:30 am IST
