Astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson reacted to Barack Obama’s recent comment on the existence of aliens. For the uninitiated, Obama appeared on the February 14 episode of Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast. During a segment, when asked whether he believed in aliens, Obama replied, “They’re real.”

While the ex-president added, “I haven’t seen them,” his comment stirred a big controversy on the internet. On Friday, Neil deGrasse Tyson sat for an interview with Piers Morgan, where the two weighed in on Barack Obama’s statement about extraterrestrial life. Morgan said that such a statement from someone who served as the US president for eight years was significant. The astrophysicist weighed in and said:

“Obama, he says yeah, ‘aliens are real.’ I didn’t interpret that as we are stockpiling aliens. He’s scientifically literate enough to know that in the universe, there are likely aliens. And that’s how I interpreted that first sentence. I didn’t view that as him leaking secrets or anything.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson argued that if ever aliens were to be discovered, it would be by scientists.

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President Barack Obama later issued an explanation about his comment on aliens

After Barack Obama’s take on extraterrestrial life made headlines and stirred a debate on the internet, the former POTUS clarified the situation. In an Instagram post, Obama wrote:

“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.”

However, he doubted whether aliens had ever visited Earth.

“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. Really!”

In his interview with Cohen, Barack Obama also dismissed the conspiracy theories about aliens being kept at Area 51.

“I haven’t seen them [aliens], and they’re not being kept in what is it?… Area 51.”

He added that there was no underground facility unless an “enormous conspiracy” existed that had been hidden even from the U.S. president.

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Piers Morgan discusses Area 51 with Neil deGrasse Tyson

In the Friday episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, the English broadcaster asked Neil deGrasse Tyson about Area 51. The astrophysicist responded with a joke, saying, “I’m not authorized to.” However, he questioned the possibility of aliens being kept at Area 51.

Tyson argued that it would be impossible for the government to keep such a large secret, given that anyone working there could leak such information.

“We upload four or five billion photos a day to the internet, plus a million hours of video a day to the internet. None of them have detailed images of aliens. So, either the aliens are only coming to Earth to visit our military installations and the US government, or they’re not really here,” Neil deGrasse Tyson stated.

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Piers Morgan interviewed Brian Tyler Cohen in the February 16 episode of his podcast and inquired why he didn’t follow up after Barack Obama said aliens “are real.” The podcaster acknowledged that he should have asked a follow-up question, but added that he didn’t realize that Obama’s response would create such a big controversy.