Washington: Former US President Barack Obama stated on Sunday that there is no evidence to suggest that aliens have made contact with Earth, clarifying that he has not encountered any evidence of extraterrestrial life.

According to Anadolu Agency, the clarification came after Obama's conversation with American podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, during which he remarked that aliens 'are real.' He added, 'They're real, but I haven't seen them,' in response to a question about extraterrestrials on a podcast episode published on Saturday.

Obama further explained, '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.' These comments sparked a public reaction, prompting Obama to issue a statement via US social media platform Instagram. He noted that he 'was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round.'

He elaborated, '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 are low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!'

Area 51, a highly classified US Air Force facility located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada, has long been the subject of conspiracy theories involving extraterrestrial life. However, its officially acknowledged purpose is aircraft testing.