# Obama says aliens are real---Huh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 15, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684 "2026-02-15T16:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/21 "2026-02-15T21:21:51Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Please cite that there is proof of aliens. Last time I checked there is zero evidence. Well, if you want to get philosophical, aliens are real _as a concept_. Even as the search for confirmation continues. Mr. Obama wasn’t asked about proof. > **[Most experts now believe aliens exist. Here’s what convinced them | BBC...](https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/yes-aliens-probably-exist-heres-why)** > > The research is mounting up that we might not be alone in this big wide world. So what's the likelihood that aliens are out there? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/22 "2026-02-15T21:23:46Z")
That’s still a far cry from saying Obama was “correct”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/23 "2026-02-15T21:27:48Z")
They’re real, and they’re spectacular. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/24 "2026-02-15T21:33:41Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Please cite that there is proof of aliens. Last time I checked there is zero evidence. I didn’t say that there is proof of aliens. I just think it’s incredibly statistically unlikely that there isn’t any single celled life somewhere in the observable universe, much less outside it. I also think it’s fairly likely that Cheyava Falls was formed by life and that we will find conclusive proof of Martian life within the next few years. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/25 "2026-02-15T21:38:28Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > But, like President Obama, I haven’t seen them. And I don’t think they’ve ever visited Earth, I haven’t seen Obama in person either, but I’m pretty sure he _has_ visited the Earth at least once. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/26 "2026-02-15T21:40:57Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Well, if you want to get philosophical, aliens are real _as a concept_. As are Santa Claus and Superman. That certainly wasn’t the cite called for. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/27 "2026-02-15T21:42:32Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I just think it’s incredibly statistically unlikely that there isn’t any single celled life somewhere in the observable universe, much less outside it. It isn’t statistically unlikely. It is statistically _unknowable_…yet. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/28 "2026-02-15T21:43:14Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Huh? > This is the biggest and most fascinating question in science. If aliens exist, it would be the greatest discovery in human history. > And Obama just waves it off, like it’s nothing. “yeah, they’re real, next question please…” > > This is NOT the answer I expect from a serious and respectable ex-President. By simple math- somewhere in the Universe intelligent aliens exist. He didnt say they are visiting the Earth- which is unlikely in the extreme. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think that there is almost certainly life elsewhere in the universe, so perhaps that’s what he meant? Right. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I agree Obama gave an unguarded answer that should have been phrased less ambiguously. > > But your OP did not seem to be about that. It seemed to me that you were falling for the credulous perspective that Obama was confirming Alien Greys someplace That is what i thought. > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Please cite that there is proof of aliens. Last time I checked there is zero evidence. No evidence but the universe is so vast, there is close to a mathematically certainty. We have found quite a few planets that could well be habitable, so the math says- yes. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/29 "2026-02-15T21:50:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Moriarty](#): > > > > Well, if you want to get philosophical, aliens are real _as a concept_. > > As are Santa Claus and Superman. That certainly wasn’t the cite called for. The cite called for was one showing Obama to be correct. He was asked if aliens were real. Full stop. He said yes. Yes is technically correct (the best kind) _even if they are only real in the fictional sense_. Absent any follow up question, it can’t be demonstrated that Obama was incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/30 "2026-02-15T21:55:07Z")
I still think it was just a joke that the interviewer decided not to follow up on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/31 "2026-02-15T21:55:22Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The cite called for was one showing Obama to be correct. He was asked if aliens were real. Full stop. He said yes. Yes is technically correct (the best kind) _even if they are only real in the fictional sense_. I think I now see how religions get started. “Is God real?” “Yes.” “Full stop?” “Full stop.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/32 "2026-02-15T21:55:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I still think it was just a joke that the interviewer decided not to follow up on. Could be- Obama has a wry sense of humor. But I think he meant “somewhere in the universe”. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/33 "2026-02-15T23:02:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > This still leaves a lot of what-if wiggle room. He could have just said “that’s just my own personal opinion, not something I learned as President”. _ **Of course** _ aliens aren’t in Area 51– everybody knows they’re stored in Hanger 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, duh! Many many many years ago a local TV station was touring “Hanger 18” as a filler video about the-rumor-that-would-not-die. They were treated to people chasing an alien in the background. It was somebody on base wearing a mask. The Base Commander was not amused. FYI, there is no Hanger 18 to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/34 "2026-02-15T23:13:36Z")
Nothing at all wrong with what Obama said. He’s thinking of the Drake Equation - the estimate of intelligent technological life in the Universe, for which he has no doubt plugged in his own numbers and done the math - so all he’s saying is that intelligent techno-beings do exist somewhere else in the Universe. Not necessarily that any are here. Even Carl Sagan would’ve backed him up on that. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/35 "2026-02-15T23:16:38Z")
I saw the teaser headline and thought, “What?!?!”. Then I watched the clip and thought, “Oh, he’s just saying that he thinks aliens exist…_ **somewhere** _…and that’s it. What’s the big deal?” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/36 "2026-02-16T01:32:27Z")
[![](https://preview.redd.it/obama-clarifies-his-remarks-about-aliens-v0-j6wmjqke2rjg1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=fd3010cdf3f7d1eca38ab008f76f6c91241a82f4) ](https://preview.redd.it/obama-clarifies-his-remarks-about-aliens-v0-j6wmjqke2rjg1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=fd3010cdf3f7d1eca38ab008f76f6c91241a82f4) > **[Reddit - The heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/1r5uo0k/obama_clarifies_his_remarks_about_aliens/)** ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/37 "2026-02-16T01:37:21Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Nothing at all wrong with what Obama said. He’s thinking of the Drake Equation - the estimate of intelligent technological life in the Universe, for which he has no doubt plugged in his own numbers and done the math - so all he’s saying is that intelligent techno-beings do exist somewhere else in the Universe. Not necessarily that any are here. Even Carl Sagan would’ve backed him up on that. Right, like I said- but better. Darren\_Garrison’s link confirms it. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/38 "2026-02-16T01:57:20Z")
Fox news is reporting Obama’s open border policies extended to extraterrestrial aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/39 "2026-02-16T01:57:58Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > _even if they are only real in the fictional sense_. “Real in the fictional sense” is an amazing turn of phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684/40 "2026-02-16T02:00:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No evidence but the universe is so vast, there is close to a mathematically certainty. We have found quite a few planets that could well be habitable, so the math says- yes. You have absolutely nothing to base this on without knowing the chance of life arising from non-organic matter. A number we don’t know. Just because there are numerically a lot of places being discovered that life could live on, doesn’t mean there is a good chance that life could arise there. Obama walked back his answer but he still wasn’t right. There are plenty of scientist and astrophysicists who think we might be alone. Regardless, they, Obama or you don’t know what the chance of life arising spontaneously are. Until we do, the vastness of the universe is meaningless [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-says-aliens-are-real-huh/1027684.md?page=3)