Former President Barack Obama sought to clarify remarks about extraterrestrial life after a podcast appearance sparked a social media frenzy and renewed scrutiny of what former presidents may or may not know about Area 51.
The former president set off speculation during a weekend interview on No Lie With Brian Tyler Cohen, when he was asked by the host what he most wanted to know upon entering office.
“Where are the aliens?” Obama replied, laughing.
Pressed further, the former president said: “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in – what is it? There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
The exchange quickly went viral, with many online seizing on his assertion that aliens were “real.”
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Obama sought to cool the reaction a little and returned to the topic.
“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.”
He continued: “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.
(Screengrab via Instagram)
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