Former US President Barack Obama has weighed in on the long-running debate over extraterrestrials, dismissing claims that aliens are being hidden at the highly secretive Area 51 facility.

During an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama was asked directly whether aliens exist. Responding with humour, he said: “Uh, they’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” before adding, “And they’re not being kept in uh what is it? Area 51. There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”

His remarks appeared to poke fun at conspiracy theories suggesting the US government is secretly housing and studying alien life at Area 51, a classified US Air Force installation in the Nevada desert. The base, officially known as Groom Lake or Homey Airport, has operated since 1955 as a Military Operating Area. Although long rumoured to exist, the CIA only publicly acknowledged the facility in 2013. Research conducted there remains classified as Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.

The secrecy surrounding Area 51 has fuelled decades of speculation about extraterrestrials and advanced technology. In 1995, then, President Bill Clinton signed an order exempting the site from certain environmental disclosure requirements, citing national security concerns, a move that further intensified public intrigue.

Area 51: What is it and what goes on there? | Space

Obama is not the only US leader to have addressed the topic. In 2019, former President Donald Trump was asked during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson whether he believed in UFOs. Trump replied: “I don’t want to get into it too much, but personally I doubt it. You have people that swear by it, right, pilots have come in and they have said … and these are not pilots that are into that particular world… we have had people saying they have seen things. I’m not a believer, but I guess anything is possible.”

Interest in the subject has grown in recent years following the US government’s release of a public report on what it calls Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The nine-page unclassified document reviewed 120 incidents recorded by US military and government personnel, acknowledging that some sightings remain unexplained. While Congress has received a classified version, the public release marked one of the clearest admissions to date that authorities cannot account for every object observed in the skies.

Despite persistent speculation, no official evidence has confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life or secret alien facilities.

Barack Obama Says Aliens Are "Real", But Denies Cover-Up At Area 51

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