Steven Spielberg said he was excited when Barack Obama said aliens are “real,” with the director joking that the comment helped promote upcoming UFO film.
During a recent South by Southwest keynote conversation moderated by Sean Fennessey, the iconic filmmaker reacted to a remark Obama made during a podcast interview last month.
“When President Obama made that comment, I thought, 'Oh my God, this is so great for Disclosure Day,’” Spielberg said, per Variety, in reference to his upcoming UFO film. “This is amazing!"
He continued, “Then two days later, he stepped back the comments and said what he believed in was life in the cosmos—which, of course, everybody should believe in. Because no one should ever think that we are the only intelligent civilization in the entire universe.”
Spielberg continued talking about UAFs (unidentified aerial phenomena, which is the scientifically correct term for UFOs), adding, “All of you here should read about this and see the plethora of documentaries about this dating back to 2018. I don't know any more than any of you do, but I have a very strong suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now.”
While speaking with Brian Tyler Cohen last month, Obama suggested that aliens are “real.”
“They're real, but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in, what is it? Area 51," the former president said at the time. “There's no underground facility, unless there's this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
After the remark generated headlines globally, the former president clarified his comments with a statement shared to his Instagram account.
“I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify,” he shared. “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!”
Disclosure Day, which stars Emily Blunt and Colman Domingo, opens in theaters on June 12.