“What You See and What You Don’t See”: Obama Discusses Aliens

During a recent episode of Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast, former President Barack Obama was directly asked if aliens exist, and he responded, “They’re real, but I’ve never seen them.” He even joked about his curiosity upon taking office, asking, “Well, where are the aliens?”

Obama also dismissed the notion that extraterrestrials are being held at the infamous Area 51, suggesting there’s no underground facility unless there’s a massive cover-up that even the president of the United States isn’t privy to.

Following his remarks, Trump weighed in during a flight on Air Force One, saying Obama had revealed classified information and labeled the comments a “big mistake.” He stated, “He provided classified information. He shouldn’t have done that.” Trump expressed uncertainty about the existence of aliens but emphasized that Obama’s disclosure was problematic.

Really, the entire exchange highlights a larger conversation surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Following emerging interest, especially from federal lawmakers, Congress passed the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon Disclosure Act in 2023, and the Department of Defense has set up the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office to dig deeper into such reports.

In his podcast appearance, Obama aimed to clarify his position, stating, “Statistically speaking, the universe is so vast that there is a good chance there is life in it. But the distances between solar systems are so great that it is unlikely that aliens will ever visit us, and during my presidency, we have seen no evidence that extraterrestrial life has come into contact with us.” This adds a bit of nuance to the debate, which is often framed in black-and-white terms.

Interest in UAPs has been growing, drawing attention from both the public and officials alike. Just the other day, a pilot reported a UFO hovering near a jet, and it raises questions about what exactly is out there.

Obama isn’t the first to delve into this subject. In 2021, he mentioned on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” that he had looked into whether aliens were being studied in secret but found no evidence for it. But, he noted, “We have images and records of objects in the sky that we don’t know exactly what they are,” expressing that authorities continue to investigate these phenomena.

In a recent exchange, White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked President Biden what he thought about Obama’s comments on UAPs. Biden, perhaps playfully, replied, “I’ll ask him again.”

This leads to an ongoing exploration of what we truly understand about the universe, the unexplained sightings, and whether there really is something—or someone—out there. It’s a fascinating, if somewhat perplexing, conversation that seems likely to continue for a while.