Obama, pressed by Jimmy Kimmel, clams up about knowledge of space aliens

On “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Thursday, host Jimmy Kimmel did his best to get President Obama to disclose his knowledge of alien life, but the president was not as forthcoming as his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

Obama’s guest appearance on Kimmel’s show featured the usual guest bits, with the president reading mean tweets about himself and touching on such newsworthy topics as the recent police shootings in Ferguson and Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal. But when Kimmel asked Obama if he’d searched the White House files for information about alien life, the president shut him down.

After Kimmel admitted seeking out the Area 51 files would be his first act as president, Obama smirked. “That’s why you will not be president.”

He continued, “The aliens won’t let it happen. ... They exercise strict control over us.”

But Kimmel pushed, recounting how he asked former President Clinton the same question last year and Clinton said that he did indeed look at the files and reported that the government had no secret information on aliens.

“That’s what we’re expected to say,” Obama replied.

Though Clinton did claim that there was nothing about aliens in the government’s files, others have asserted that the former president was being evasive and not entirely honest when he was answering Kimmel’s questions last year. A YouTube video analyzing Clinton’s appearance was posted by “Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files” host Ben Hansen last year.

Kimmel referenced the video with Obama, cautioning him that people would be analyzing the president’s every word and laugh. But that didn’t seem to persuade Obama to open up any more.

The secrets of Area 51 -- aliens or not -- continue to remain safe.

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