In Brief: Barack Obama Causes Brief Alien Frenzy

This weekend, former president Barack Obama appeared on the No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen podcast and briefly caused a frenzy about space aliens. During a lightning round of questioning at the end of the podcast, Cohen asked Obama if aliens are real. "They're real," Obama replied, "but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in, what is it, Area 51." The response about aliens being real led to a media frenzy. It was the top headline on the Drudge Report for a day, and Time magazine sent out an email alert with the supposed admission as the top story. It trended for a day on X, where users seized on the comments as proof of alien contact, and was even one. On Sunday, Obama clarified his remarks, saying in a social media post that he was trying to give a "speed round" answer. He meant, he said, that statistically, given the size of the universe, "the odds are good there's life out there." He added that "I saw no evidence during my presidency that aliens have made contact with us. Really!" The frenzy, which made the NBC Nightly News ​Monday night, might have been avoided had Cohen, who has no background in journalism, thought to ask the obvious follow-up question once Obama said aliens were real. Indeed, it might also have been avoided had the mainstream media asked Obama to clarify rather than running with a half-answer.