Barack Obama Says Aliens Are ‘Real,’ But They Aren’t Being Kept at Area 51

Former President Barack Obama said in an interview published Saturday that aliens are “real,” but added that he hadn’t seen them.

Asked by progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen about the existence of extraterrestrial life, the former president responded: “They’re real.”

“But I haven’t seen them. They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility—unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States.”

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The interviewer did not ask a follow-up question on the topic. 

Read more: If They Find Life in Space, Scientists Are Worried About Breaking the News. Here’s Why

The former president also spoke out about the recent deployment of thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota, condemning what he described as “rogue behavior” of the federal government during the months-long enforcement surge. 

Obama compared the actions of the Trump Administration in Minnesota to behavior that “we’ve seen in authoritarian countries and we’ve seen in dictatorships, but we have not seen in America.”

“It is important for us to recognize the unprecedented nature of what ICE was doing in Minneapolis, St. Paul, the way that federal agents, ICE agents were being deployed, without any clear guidelines, training, pulling people out of their homes, using five-year-olds to try to bait their parents,” he said, referring to the case of 5-Year-Old Liam Conejo Ramos.

“So the rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous, but we should take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary outpouring of organizing, community building, decency, neighbors buying groceries for folks, accompanying children to school, teachers who were standing up for their kids, not just randomly, but in a systematic, organized way, citizens saying, “this is not the America we believe in,’” he said. 

Obama, whom Trump succeeded in 2017, had previously spoken out against the federal immigration operations in Minneapolis following the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents.

In a statement with his wife Michelle posted on X after Pretti’s death, Obama claimed that Trump and officials in his Administration “seem eager to escalate the situation” instead of “trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed.”

“This has to stop,” Obama said. “I would hope that after this most recent tragedy, Administration officials will reconsider their approach.” 

The Trump Administration said Thursday it is winding down its massive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota following months of unrest over excessive use of force by immigration officers in the state, including the shooting deaths of Pretti and Good.

“I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude,” border czar Tom Homan told reporters in a press conference in Minneapolis on Thursday.

President Donald Trump sent Homan, his top immigration advisor, to Minnesota late last month to address large-scale protests over excessive use of force by immigration officers in the state. Homan took over leadership of “Operation Metro Surge” from Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and quickly set up meetings with local and state leaders, including sheriffs, police chiefs, Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Obama also responded indirectly to the recent controversy over a video posted by President Donald Trump that depicted him and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. 

When asked about it, Obama commented on how there is a “sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television.” 

“What is true is there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sense of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office. So that’s been lost,” he added. 

Trump has refused to apologize for posting the video, saying he instructed a staffer to share it but that he had not seen the offending part.

“I didn’t see the whole thing,” Trump said. “I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing. But I guess somebody didn’t.”

TIME has approached the White House for comment.