"I tried to answer quickly, in the spirit of the segment, but since it's causing a stir, I want to clarify. Statistically speaking, the universe is so vast that it's highly probable there is life beyond Earth", former US President Barack Obama posted on Instagram on 15/2.
The post addressed controversies related to a statement he made about aliens in a previously aired podcast.
"However, the distances between star systems are so immense that the probability of aliens ever visiting us is very low. During my presidency, I also did not see any evidence that extraterrestrial beings have ever contacted us. Seriously!", he wrote.
In a conversation with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen last weekend, Obama seemingly confirmed the existence of aliens during a rapid-fire Q&A session, where guests provide brief answers to a barrage of questions.
When asked "are aliens real?", the former US president replied, "they are real, but I haven't seen them".
"They are not kept at Area 51. There are no underground facilities, unless there's some huge conspiracy and they're hiding it from the US president", he added.
Area 51 is a highly classified US Air Force base in Nevada. The facility has long been believed by conspiracy theorists to be where the government conceals alien bodies and spacecraft.
This comment was widely reported by news agencies globally with headlines such as "former President Barack Obama confirms aliens are real" or "'They are real': Obama's shocking claims about aliens". Time magazine also covered the event with the headline: "Obama says aliens are real, but they are not in Area 51".
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Former US President Barack Obama in Chicago in 8/2024. Photo: Reuters |
Interest in the possibility of contact between aliens and Earth has surged in recent years, following the disclosure of US government documents revealing several instances of mysterious flying object sightings.
A leaked video recorded by a US Air Force drone more than 13 years ago showed Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), the US government's new term for Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO), appearing in the Middle East.
The Pentagon also released three videos several years ago, recorded by the US Navy, showing strange objects streaking across the sky to the astonishment of soldiers, with one UAP even rotating against the wind.
Vu Hoang (According to Guardian, AFP, Reuters)
