Barack Obama Sets The Record Straight After ‘Aliens Are Real’ Quote Goes Viral

Barack Obama has taken to Instagram to clarify his previous comments about aliens being real.

The former president had earlier appeared to confirm the presence of extraterrestrial life during an interview with liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen. The quote sparked a strong reaction on social media, given that it came from a former head of state.

Following this fallout, Obama went to his Instagram to clear things up, suggesting his comments were not based on any evidence from his time in the Oval Office.

In the interview, Obama also addressed the video shared by Donald Trump on his Truth Social account depicting him and Michelle Obama as monkeys.

Obama sat down with Cohen for the interview, covering a wide range of topics, including the question of whether aliens exist or not.

When quizzed about it, the retired politician responded in the affirmative, but pushed back on the common conspiracy theory that extraterrestrials are being held and experimented on at Area 51.

“They're real, but I haven't seen them,” Obama said in the conversation posted on Cohen’s YouTube channel. “And they're not being kept in Area 51.”

He went on to add that the only way such an operation could exist is if it were concealed even from the commander-in-chief.

“There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States,” Obama added.

In light of the debate that followed his comments, Obama clarified via a post on Instagram that he was speaking broadly about the probability of life elsewhere in the universe, not referencing any classified information from his time in office.

“Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” Obama wrote. “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!”

In the brief statement, Obama explained that his wording was simply influenced by the format of the interview itself.

 “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round,” he said.

Obama also took the opportunity to address the video that Trump shared on his Truth Social account depicting him and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys.

The former Illinois senator argued that his successor’s conduct was not reflective of the broader American public.

“Well, first of all, I think it's important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” Obama told Cohen.

He compared Trump’s rhetoric to tactics historically seen under authoritarian regimes in other countries.

“[This is] the sort of behavior that, in the past, we've seen in authoritarian countries and we've seen in dictatorships, but we have not seen in America,” Obama said.

In his conversation with Cohen, social media messaging was not the only thing that Obama disagreed with Trump on.

The 44th president was also full of praise for Bad Bunny’s halftime performance at Super Bowl LX.

According to the New York Times, Trump had previously condemned the Puerto Rican artist’s routine at the showpiece event, calling it “absolutely terrible” and “one of the worst ever.”

Obama said that the presentation was, in fact, indicative of American diversity.

“It was smart because it wasn't preaching,” he explained. “It was demonstrating this is what a community is. And [for] people who have never been to Puerto Rico, it was a reminder of what Dr. King called ‘the beloved community.’”

In the aftermath of his interview with Cohen, Obama attended the 2026 NBA All-Star Game at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

The former president later reflected on how sports can play a crucial uniting role within society in a post on his X profile.

“Watching the @NBA All Star game and @TeamUSA at the Winter Olympics, it’s clear that sports — just like music and art — still has the power to bring us together, build community, and remind us of our common humanity,” Obama wrote.