Do aliens exist? Obama jokes that they're real – but not at Area 51

It's a question that's been debated and debunked for decades: Are aliens real?

The word "alien" can create mental images of different creatures in people's heads thanks to Hollywood − gentle and wrinkly in Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," blue and rambunctious in Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" and the stereotypical green beings with big eyes come to life in "Invaders from Mars."

Former President Barack Obama jokingly confirmed their existence in a Feb. 14 interview with podcast host and YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen before shutting down the conspiracy that creatures from outer space are held at Area 51, the remote and classified United States Air Force facility in the Nevada desert.

In the interview, Cohen held a lightning round of questions with the former president, including asking about a pressing issue for some people in the United States: Do aliens exist?

“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them," Obama said in response to Cohen's question. "They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States.”