Barack Obama Raises Eyebrows With Bizarre UFO Comments About Government 'Keeping Aliens Underground Somewhere’'
Barack Obama is talking aliens once again.
May 6 2026, Published 4:25 p.m. ET
Barack Obama has been open about his thoughts on aliens, but a previous comment got the former president in hot water, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In a new interview with Stephen Colbert on his late-show on Tuesday, May 5, Obama explained what he meant when he said aliens are "real, but I haven't seen them."
'The Government Is Terrible at Keeping Secrets'
Obama once again touched on the topic of aliens during an interview with Stephen Colbert.
"You tried to walk it back the next day. You know no one believed you, right?" Colbert joked with Obama during the interview.
"I thought it was so obvious what I meant,” Obama explained, throwing cold water on the theory that the U.S. government is secretly keeping aliens away from the public's eye.
The 64-year-old said, "Here’s the thing. For those of you who still think that we've got little green men underground somewhere, one of the things you learn as president is [that] government is terrible at keeping secrets."
According to the popular Democrat, "If there were aliens, or alien spaceships, or anything under the control of the U.S. government that we knew about, [had] seen, photographs … I promise you some guy guarding the installation would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend to impress them. It would leak."
Barack Obama on Aliens: 'They're Not Being Kept in Area 51'
The former president made clear the government isn't in possession of aliens.
As far as Obama hoping extraterrestrials are real, the politician quipped, "I actually do. I'm putting in a plug now: First contact, I think I would be a good emissary for the planet.
"I have the diverse background, some experience in statecraft and diplomacy … I'm friendly. I actually think I could do a pretty good job."
Earlier this year, during a chat with Brian Tyler Cohen on his podcast No Lie, Obama turned heads when the topic of the little green men came up.
He claimed at the time, "They're not being kept in… 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."
Area 51 is a classified United States Air Force facility located in Groom Lake, Nevada. However, conspiracy theorists have long believed the government is holding proof of alien life.
Donald Trump Calls Barack Obama's Comments a 'Big Mistake'
President Trump raged over his rival Obama's aliens comments.
Obama's comments went viral, which was enough for him to rush to Instagram to clarify his comments: "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens are low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us."
However, President Trump wasn't too happy with his rival's comments, and made that very clear when he was asked about the existence of aliens while aboard Air Force One on February 19.
"Well, I don't know if they're real or not," the 79-year-old told reporters. "I can tell you (Obama) gave classified information. He's not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information."
Later in the month, Trump directed his embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other federal agencies to begin going through UFO files and releasing them to the public.
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Following Obama's comments earlier this year, Trump ordered Pete Hegseth to look into the UFO files.
Hegseth said at the time: "We're digging in. We're going to be in full compliance with that executive order, eager to provide that for the president. There will be more coming on that as far as the process of what we'll do."
"I get to do the review and find out along with you," Hegseth said when asked if he believes aliens are real.
