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| Meta Title | Barack Obama says aliens are real. This scientist agrees with him | BBC Sky at Night Magazine |
| Meta Description | Barack Obama says it's likely there's alien life beyond Earth. One astrophysicist says she agrees with him, that the chances are high. |
| Meta Canonical | null |
| Boilerpipe Text | Could there be alien life out there in the cosmos, waiting to be discovered?
This is surely one of the biggest mysteries in science: the question as to whether we are alone in the Universe, or whether some form of life exists – or has ever existed – beyond Earth.
Credit: Mehau Kulyk/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Popular interest in the topic of alien life rarely wanes, but it certainly got a boost in the headlines this week after former US President Barack Obama said aliens "are real".
To clarify, what the former president actually said was "They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in
Area 51
. There’s no underground facility"
Former US President Barack Obama talking on Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast
Obama was speaking to American podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, and responding to a simple question: "are aliens real?"
The idea of a former US President publicly declaring "aliens are real", unsurprisingly, took the internet by storm.
It precipitated a surge in online debate as to whether or not Obama was confirming the existence of a government conspiracy to keep secret the existence of intelligent alien beings.
Unsurprisingly, Obama felt the need to clarify, once the podcast had aired, and subsequently posted on his official Instagram channel:
"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!"
There could be up to 200 billion galaxies in the observable Universe. What does that say about the chances of alien life? Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Ă–stlin, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, J. Melinder, the JADES Collaboration, the MIDIS collaboration, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Is alien life really likely?
Obama, it seems, was referring to some pretty startling statistics that have been concluded by scientists and astronomers over the past few decades.
Firstly, we know that life does exist in the Universe, in the form of us, human beings, and all our co-inhabitants of planet Earth.
And if life does exist on one rocky world orbiting a very ordinary star, couldn't life exist – or once have existed – elsewhere in the Galaxy, let alone the wider Universe?
For every star you can see in the night sky, there's at least one planet in orbit around it. Credit: Shimpei Yamashita / Getty Images
Since the field of
exoplanet
study exploded in the 1990s, astronomers now have confirmed over
6,000 exoplanets
: planets orbiting stars beyond our Solar System.
In fact, scientists now say that, for every star you can see in the night sky, there's likely at least one planet in orbit around it.
There could be up to 400 billion stars in our Galaxy alone, and ours isn't even a particularly enormous galaxy.
Some scientists say this makes the chances of life existng beyond Earth – even if it's simple, microbial life – quite high. Others say no conclusions can be made unless direct evidence is found.
But one astrophysicist has weighed in on the debate following Obama's comments, to say she does think it likely that alien life could exist out there in the cosmos.
If life evolved on Earth, couldn't it evolve elsewhere? Credit: NASA / Toby Ord
Could Obama be right about aliens?
Dr Sara Webb is an astrophysicist at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
"I agree with Barack Obama, and I immediately understood what he meant," she says.
"As a scientist, I’ll say this with confidence: I think aliens exist. Not because we’ve seen them. Not because we’ve met them. And not because we have direct, tangible evidence (yet). But because of the odds."
Dr Webb points to the fact that the observable Universe contains at least two trillion galaxies.
Each of these galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars, and most of those stars very likely host planets.
So if life could flourish on Earth in extreme environments at the bottom of our oceans, in Antarctica, within acidic lakes and even in nuclear reactors, couldn't life have evolved on other temperate, rocky planets?
This image captured by the Cassini spacecraft shows plumes of water ice erupting from beneath the surface of Enceladus. This icy moon of Saturn has a liquid ocean beneath its crust and is therefore one of the best places to search for signs of life in our Solar System. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
Even in our own Solar System we find
habitable conditions in liquid oceans beneath the frozen surface of icy moons
, such as those orbiting Jupiter and Saturn.
So while there's been no confirmed detection of life elsewhere in our Solar System, astronomers have found that conditions for life do exist beyond Earth, even within our minuscule corner of the Galaxy.
"If life happened here, in this vast cosmic lottery, it feels statistically improbable that we are the only winning ticket," Dr Webb says.
"The Universe has had
13.8 billion years
to run that experiment over and over again."
The Green Bank Radio Telescope. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
Making contact
Finding microbial life in on an icy moon is one thing, but could we really expect to ever make contact with intelligent life?
Some astronomers use enormous radio telescopes to
search for signals from technologically advanced alien species
across the Galaxy. It's known as SETI, or the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
Dr Webb notes the vastness of the Universe, and how our communication with any potential intelligent alien species is restricted by the
speed of light
.
That makes receiving and sending communications very difficult, and likely impossible to do within one human lifetime.
"Do I think we’ll shake hands with extraterrestrials anytime soon? Probably not," she says.
"Do I think we’ll find evidence – microbial, atmospheric, or something unexpected? I hope so. Maybe even in our lifetime.
"Somewhere, under another sky, orbiting another star, there may be a civilisation looking up at their version of the night sky… wondering if they are alone too."
What are your thoughts on alien life? Let us know by emailing
contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com |
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Barack Obama says aliens are real. This scientist agrees with him
# Barack Obama says aliens are real. This scientist agrees with him
Astrophysicist weighs in on the former US president's comments on alien life
[Get monthly inspiration to your door with BBC Sky At Night Magazine - subscribe today](https://www.ourmediashop.com/bbc-sky-at-night-magazine-B20?utm_source=skyatnightmagazine.com&utm_medium=brandsite&utm_campaign=sponsor-link_b20&utm_content=promotional-link&style=brand)
![Former US President Barack Obama. Credit: Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images]()
Former US President Barack Obama. Credit: Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
[Iain Todd](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/author/iain-todd)
Published: February 19, 2026 at 7:44 am
***
Could there be alien life out there in the cosmos, waiting to be discovered?
This is surely one of the biggest mysteries in science: the question as to whether we are alone in the Universe, or whether some form of life exists – or has ever existed – beyond Earth.
### ****More on alien life****
- [***Places close to Earth where alien life could exist***](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/best-places-find-life-solar-system)
- [***Aliens' technology could be giving them away***](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/alien-technosignatures)
- [***Why E.T. life might not be so 'alien' after all***](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/extra-terrestrial-life-might-not-seem-so-alien)
Credit: Mehau Kulyk/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Popular interest in the topic of alien life rarely wanes, but it certainly got a boost in the headlines this week after former US President Barack Obama said aliens "are real".
To clarify, what the former president actually said was "They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in [Area 51](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/area-51). There’s no underground facility"
Former US President Barack Obama talking on Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast
Obama was speaking to American podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, and responding to a simple question: "are aliens real?"
The idea of a former US President publicly declaring "aliens are real", unsurprisingly, took the internet by storm.
It precipitated a surge in online debate as to whether or not Obama was confirming the existence of a government conspiracy to keep secret the existence of intelligent alien beings.
Unsurprisingly, Obama felt the need to clarify, once the podcast had aired, and subsequently posted on his official Instagram channel:
"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!"
There could be up to 200 billion galaxies in the observable Universe. What does that say about the chances of alien life? Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Ă–stlin, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, J. Melinder, the JADES Collaboration, the MIDIS collaboration, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
## **Is alien life really likely?**
Obama, it seems, was referring to some pretty startling statistics that have been concluded by scientists and astronomers over the past few decades.
Firstly, we know that life does exist in the Universe, in the form of us, human beings, and all our co-inhabitants of planet Earth.
And if life does exist on one rocky world orbiting a very ordinary star, couldn't life exist – or once have existed – elsewhere in the Galaxy, let alone the wider Universe?
For every star you can see in the night sky, there's at least one planet in orbit around it. Credit: Shimpei Yamashita / Getty Images
Since the field of [exoplanet](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/exoplanets) study exploded in the 1990s, astronomers now have confirmed over [6,000 exoplanets](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/6000-confirmed-exoplanets): planets orbiting stars beyond our Solar System.
In fact, scientists now say that, for every star you can see in the night sky, there's likely at least one planet in orbit around it.
There could be up to 400 billion stars in our Galaxy alone, and ours isn't even a particularly enormous galaxy.
Some scientists say this makes the chances of life existng beyond Earth – even if it's simple, microbial life – quite high. Others say no conclusions can be made unless direct evidence is found.
But one astrophysicist has weighed in on the debate following Obama's comments, to say she does think it likely that alien life could exist out there in the cosmos.
If life evolved on Earth, couldn't it evolve elsewhere? Credit: NASA / Toby Ord
## **Could Obama be right about aliens?**
Dr Sara Webb is an astrophysicist at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
"I agree with Barack Obama, and I immediately understood what he meant," she says.
"As a scientist, I’ll say this with confidence: I think aliens exist. Not because we’ve seen them. Not because we’ve met them. And not because we have direct, tangible evidence (yet). But because of the odds."
Dr Webb points to the fact that the observable Universe contains at least two trillion galaxies.
Each of these galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars, and most of those stars very likely host planets.
So if life could flourish on Earth in extreme environments at the bottom of our oceans, in Antarctica, within acidic lakes and even in nuclear reactors, couldn't life have evolved on other temperate, rocky planets?
This image captured by the Cassini spacecraft shows plumes of water ice erupting from beneath the surface of Enceladus. This icy moon of Saturn has a liquid ocean beneath its crust and is therefore one of the best places to search for signs of life in our Solar System. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
Even in our own Solar System we find [habitable conditions in liquid oceans beneath the frozen surface of icy moons](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/alien-life-solar-system-icy-moons), such as those orbiting Jupiter and Saturn.
So while there's been no confirmed detection of life elsewhere in our Solar System, astronomers have found that conditions for life do exist beyond Earth, even within our minuscule corner of the Galaxy.
"If life happened here, in this vast cosmic lottery, it feels statistically improbable that we are the only winning ticket," Dr Webb says.
"The Universe has had [13\.8 billion years](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/how-old-is-the-universe) to run that experiment over and over again."
The Green Bank Radio Telescope. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
## **Making contact**
Finding microbial life in on an icy moon is one thing, but could we really expect to ever make contact with intelligent life?
Some astronomers use enormous radio telescopes to [search for signals from technologically advanced alien species](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/communicate-with-aliens) across the Galaxy. It's known as SETI, or the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
Dr Webb notes the vastness of the Universe, and how our communication with any potential intelligent alien species is restricted by the [speed of light](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/speed-of-light).
That makes receiving and sending communications very difficult, and likely impossible to do within one human lifetime.
"Do I think we’ll shake hands with extraterrestrials anytime soon? Probably not," she says.
"Do I think we’ll find evidence – microbial, atmospheric, or something unexpected? I hope so. Maybe even in our lifetime.
"Somewhere, under another sky, orbiting another star, there may be a civilisation looking up at their version of the night sky… wondering if they are alone too."
***What are your thoughts on alien life? Let us know by emailing [contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com](mailto:contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com)***
[](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/author/iain-todd)
[Iain Todd]()
Science journalist
Iain Todd is BBC Sky at Night Magazine's Content Editor. He fell in love with the night sky when he caught his first glimpse of Orion, aged 10.
## You may also like
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[Sky At NightAliens may be able to communicate with their home planet by using a strange quirk of gravity. Here's how it could work12/26/2025Gravitational lensing could help boost extraterrestrial signals between the stars, helping E.T. phone home.Show moreapple-news space-sciencealien-life setiRead](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/space-science/extra-terrestrial-alien-communicate-gravitational-lensing)
[![Could alien life generate its own habitable haven? Credit: ppl58/istock/getty images]()](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/space-science/could-alien-life-create-its-own-habitability)
[Sky At NightAlien life may be able to create its own habitable havens on hostile worlds, says scientist11/24/2025apple-news space-sciencealien-life exoplanetsRead](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/space-science/could-alien-life-create-its-own-habitability)
[![Signals from Earth's biggest airports could reveal our location to aliens. Credit: Jaromir / Getty Images]()](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/news/aliens-detect-radar-signals-earth-biggest-airports)
[Sky At NightAliens could detect radar from Earth's biggest airports10/18/2025There are a few ways to look for signs of alien life beyond Earth. Scientists can send robotic probes to the planets and moons of our Solar System searching for biological evidence that life exists – or could exist – within our own cosmic neighbourhood. Beyond our Solar System, the study of distant exoplanets can reveal what sort of chemicals are in their atmosphere, including any biosignatures that might indicate biological activity. More on alien life Scientists can even search for technosignatures, signals from technology developed by any intelligent species that happen to be residing within our Galaxy. The same, then, is trueShow morenews apple-news space-sciencealien-lifeRead](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/news/aliens-detect-radar-signals-earth-biggest-airports)
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| Readable Markdown | Could there be alien life out there in the cosmos, waiting to be discovered?
This is surely one of the biggest mysteries in science: the question as to whether we are alone in the Universe, or whether some form of life exists – or has ever existed – beyond Earth.
Credit: Mehau Kulyk/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Popular interest in the topic of alien life rarely wanes, but it certainly got a boost in the headlines this week after former US President Barack Obama said aliens "are real".
To clarify, what the former president actually said was "They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in [Area 51](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/area-51). There’s no underground facility"
Former US President Barack Obama talking on Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast
Obama was speaking to American podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, and responding to a simple question: "are aliens real?"
The idea of a former US President publicly declaring "aliens are real", unsurprisingly, took the internet by storm.
It precipitated a surge in online debate as to whether or not Obama was confirming the existence of a government conspiracy to keep secret the existence of intelligent alien beings.
Unsurprisingly, Obama felt the need to clarify, once the podcast had aired, and subsequently posted on his official Instagram channel:
"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!"
There could be up to 200 billion galaxies in the observable Universe. What does that say about the chances of alien life? Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Ă–stlin, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, J. Melinder, the JADES Collaboration, the MIDIS collaboration, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
## **Is alien life really likely?**
Obama, it seems, was referring to some pretty startling statistics that have been concluded by scientists and astronomers over the past few decades.
Firstly, we know that life does exist in the Universe, in the form of us, human beings, and all our co-inhabitants of planet Earth.
And if life does exist on one rocky world orbiting a very ordinary star, couldn't life exist – or once have existed – elsewhere in the Galaxy, let alone the wider Universe?
For every star you can see in the night sky, there's at least one planet in orbit around it. Credit: Shimpei Yamashita / Getty Images
Since the field of [exoplanet](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/exoplanets) study exploded in the 1990s, astronomers now have confirmed over [6,000 exoplanets](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/6000-confirmed-exoplanets): planets orbiting stars beyond our Solar System.
In fact, scientists now say that, for every star you can see in the night sky, there's likely at least one planet in orbit around it.
There could be up to 400 billion stars in our Galaxy alone, and ours isn't even a particularly enormous galaxy.
Some scientists say this makes the chances of life existng beyond Earth – even if it's simple, microbial life – quite high. Others say no conclusions can be made unless direct evidence is found.
But one astrophysicist has weighed in on the debate following Obama's comments, to say she does think it likely that alien life could exist out there in the cosmos.
If life evolved on Earth, couldn't it evolve elsewhere? Credit: NASA / Toby Ord
## **Could Obama be right about aliens?**
Dr Sara Webb is an astrophysicist at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
"I agree with Barack Obama, and I immediately understood what he meant," she says.
"As a scientist, I’ll say this with confidence: I think aliens exist. Not because we’ve seen them. Not because we’ve met them. And not because we have direct, tangible evidence (yet). But because of the odds."
Dr Webb points to the fact that the observable Universe contains at least two trillion galaxies.
Each of these galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars, and most of those stars very likely host planets.
So if life could flourish on Earth in extreme environments at the bottom of our oceans, in Antarctica, within acidic lakes and even in nuclear reactors, couldn't life have evolved on other temperate, rocky planets?
This image captured by the Cassini spacecraft shows plumes of water ice erupting from beneath the surface of Enceladus. This icy moon of Saturn has a liquid ocean beneath its crust and is therefore one of the best places to search for signs of life in our Solar System. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
Even in our own Solar System we find [habitable conditions in liquid oceans beneath the frozen surface of icy moons](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/alien-life-solar-system-icy-moons), such as those orbiting Jupiter and Saturn.
So while there's been no confirmed detection of life elsewhere in our Solar System, astronomers have found that conditions for life do exist beyond Earth, even within our minuscule corner of the Galaxy.
"If life happened here, in this vast cosmic lottery, it feels statistically improbable that we are the only winning ticket," Dr Webb says.
"The Universe has had [13\.8 billion years](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/how-old-is-the-universe) to run that experiment over and over again."
The Green Bank Radio Telescope. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
## **Making contact**
Finding microbial life in on an icy moon is one thing, but could we really expect to ever make contact with intelligent life?
Some astronomers use enormous radio telescopes to [search for signals from technologically advanced alien species](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/communicate-with-aliens) across the Galaxy. It's known as SETI, or the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
Dr Webb notes the vastness of the Universe, and how our communication with any potential intelligent alien species is restricted by the [speed of light](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/speed-of-light).
That makes receiving and sending communications very difficult, and likely impossible to do within one human lifetime.
"Do I think we’ll shake hands with extraterrestrials anytime soon? Probably not," she says.
"Do I think we’ll find evidence – microbial, atmospheric, or something unexpected? I hope so. Maybe even in our lifetime.
"Somewhere, under another sky, orbiting another star, there may be a civilisation looking up at their version of the night sky… wondering if they are alone too."
***What are your thoughts on alien life? Let us know by emailing [contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com](mailto:contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com)*** |
| Shard | 0 (laksa) |
| Root Hash | 17272759835737108600 |
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