"I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify. 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 is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"
As reported this morning on CBS, Obama made the above post on Instagram on Sunday, Feb. 15, a few days after the podcast interview with Brian Tyler Cohen. While it seems he spent some time thinking, then clarifying what he said to Cohen, it may also have been a bit of backtracking in response to advice to downplay his statement.
Cohen interview quote:
"They're real," he answered, continuing, "But I haven't seen them. And, they're not being kept in Area 51. There's no underground facility — unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
The above quote is a clear assertion. The IG post walks it back.
I think he got a call, reminding him of the importance of keeping things under wraps.
by EmploymentLanky9544
19 Comments
Obama got a call or visit 100%.
IMHO that was the most likely explanation. I am glad he clarified. It shows he is listening.
If reddit is any clue. It makes perfect sense. Everyone on the ufo and alien subs has gone hog wild with what I consider to be an off the cuff comment.
I don’t know how it went from “They’re Real “ to they probably do exist!
I Definitely think he got a warning to revise his answer!
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
>”I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”
But I think this implies he’s seen evidence after his presidency? Why else would he say “during my presidency” when he is so precise with his words? It certainly reads that way to me.
Politicians are such wordsmiths. It’s not what they say, so much as the gaps in between that you have to look at. Especially with a politician such as Obama, who won’t outright lie like a Republican that doesn’t fear repurcussions.
This is because Obama is known for being such a statesman and man of the people and so to be himself, to be charming and on brand, he has to go as close to the truth as humanly possible whilst also leaving himself a healthy dose of plausible deniability.
If we read that statement in this context; he’s likely seen evidence of aliens post presidency.
people acting like obama is a 5d chessmaster, planning seven steps ahead on revealing the absolute truth about aliens in… a lightning round of an interview…
some comments feel like Q anon bs the way some are taking meaning out of literally nothing
It’s all gradual disclosure. Just wait until the next drop. Everytime they do this more and more people change belief. There won’t be any big announcements until most people are primed to accept the information revealed. This is the responsible way to do this.
Been lurking on this sub since ~2020. If I was a betting man, the end date is early to mid 2030’s (Loosely based on Karl Nell’s slides at the Sol Symposium). Until then, sit tight and enjoy the show.
To paraphrase those who love to misquote and misinterpret poor old Occam, the simplest answer is that he got a phone call.
I think he added context to what he wanted to initially say. He doesn’t really know anything.
I do not think he packpedalled, he just cleared what he meant. I don’t think that Obama is aware of anything else but that there are UAP seen every now and then and some are very difficult to explain, like he said in an earlier interview, years ago. Bill Clinton once apparently looked into the subject and was stonewalled, had Obama done the same he would likely had faced a similar stonewall. It is rather intresting that they seem to keep even some presidents out, whatever it is. You would think the supreme commander-in-chief should know. But I do not think that these people, whether inside or in private corps play by those rules. In an ideal world maybe, but this world is anything but.
I don’t see this as a walk-back, and I don’t think he was “called” to correct anything. My view has always been that elected POTUS are likely briefed just enough to know the phenomenon is real or anomalous but not given full disclosure. That actually lines up with some of the best points raised on this sub before: presidents are temporary officials, so it makes little sense to give them everything when they’ll be out of office in a few years. Obama has also never given a flat “no” to this question across multiple interviews which makes his position fairly consistent over time.
I watched the full interview and he was calm, measured and clearly choosing his words carefully. The only moment that stood out was the rapid-fire round, where he answered instinctively and the interviewer immediately moved on, giving him no time to qualify or contextualize it. After seeing how widely the quote spread, it makes sense that he later framed it in broader, statistical terms not as a retraction but as responsible context from someone who still understands the weight and limits of what he can say (even as a former president). This is just how I felt with his response, IMO.
It’s highly unlikely anyone in US intelligence approached him to walk back his statement. In this political climate he wouldn’t have given in so easily if that had happened. He’s essentially untouchable as an American political figure as far as that goes. He has nothing to lose or gain by walking it back under those circumstances.
At first I was hoping this was his way of preempting Trumps rumored UFO speech. Trying to steal some of Trumps thunder. But in reality this isn’t an issue the “realpolitik” focuses on even remotely. We’re biased observers because we’re obsessed with UFO’s. If anything Obama realized he was only amplifying a likely coming distraction from Trump and needed to clarify as to not bolster whatever Trump is trying to do or say.
Obama is on kind of a press tour after staying relatively silent for the last decade. This isn’t because he’s thinking about disclosure at all. It’s because we’re on the brink of becoming an authoritarian police state sliding into fascism and if there’s any hope of restoring the rule of law it will come down to the 2026 midterm elections. Elections that the far right in this country is increasingly trying to undermine or possibly stop altogether. That’s his focus. Full stop.
He probably didn’t know who to ask or have reason to ask during his tenure. Even if he was curious how do you drill down to the person who would know. More like a need to know info.
I think we take him at his word. Not everything is a conspiracy.
The fact that this was the only thing he followed up on tells me It was outside pressure to pull back
It seems he wants to make people believe and not believe, to play along more than anything else. In my opinion, he used wrong words and then corrected himself, but whatever he says is interpreted in every possible way. I’m curious to see if there will be any concrete developments.
i think it was something to fuck trump off with given his recent video of the Obamas. maybe he stole trumps thunder or pushed him down a path he didnt want to go….
Personally, I think he is limited by certain NDAs as to when and what he can say.
While I have the utmost respect for his credibility, I think this may have been done as a sort of publicity stunt. Just casually drop a small comment you can “correct” later and get some non-politically charged coverage.
Whether it was on purpose or not, I think that much of it suggests the U.S. government (as an institution, not administration) know something more.
Obama is well informed and fully aware of the congressional investigations, hearings, AARO, Grusch and the recent Age Of Disclosure, his “unless there’s a massive conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States” couldn’t be a more pointed nod to the Age of Disclosure and general UFO zeitgeist of the moment.
He meant what he said he chooses his words carefully, he also worded his clarification carefully, if it is true Trump has a disclosure speech planned it was a way to steal his thunder but also let Trump have his moment at the same time, when it all comes out Obama was there first but Trump gets the bigly moment is what I reckon