Obama Clarifies "Aliens Exist" Remark Within a Day: "I Have Seen No Evidence"

After Uproar, Says He Was Only Talking About "Statistical Possibility"

Former U.S. President Barack Obama moved to clarify his comments within 24 hours after appearing to acknowledge the existence of aliens in a podcast interview.

According to the British daily The Guardian and others on the 15th (local time), in a podcast interview released the previous day, former President Obama was asked whether extraterrestrial life exists and replied, "They do exist."

However, he drew a line, saying, "I have never seen an alien in person." He continued, "We are not hiding aliens in Area 51, and there is no massive underground facility. Of course, if there were some grand conspiracy that could even be kept secret from the President of the United States, I wouldn't know about it."

Area 51 is an Air Force facility in the Nevada desert. It has long been the subject of conspiracy theories claiming that the U.S. government secretly studies aliens and alien spacecraft there.

Obama's remarks sparked a wave of speculation online. Some interpreted his comments as hinting at a government-level conspiracy or secret.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama. AP Yonhap News

As the controversy spread, Obama issued a clarification 24 hours later through his Instagram account.

He said, "It was an answer meant to match the mood, but given the level of interest, let me be clear," adding, "Because the universe is so vast, statistically there is a high likelihood that life exists somewhere out there."

Obama added, however, "Because the distances are so great, the chances that aliens have visited Earth are small." He went on, "During my time in office, I did not see any evidence that extraterrestrial life had made contact with the United States. I really mean that," he emphasized.

His comments are being interpreted as stressing the need to clearly distinguish between scientific estimates about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and conspiracy theories about secret government contacts.

Meanwhile, in the podcast interview, when asked about a "monkey Obama" video that President Donald Trump posted on the internet, Obama replied, "There is a clown show going on in social media and on TV," and added, "In the past, people at least maintained a minimum level of decency, but now shame has disappeared."