NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sunday the chances that humanity will eventually find evidence it is not alone in the universe are "pretty high" -- weighing in on a debate that has drawn comments from two presidents in recent months.
Newsweek reached out to NASA via email on Sunday for additional comment.
The possibility of extraterrestrial life has long captivated the American public. In February, President Donald Trump said he would order the release of government documents related to aliens, extraterrestrial life, and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). No government has ever confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life, though debate over its possibility continues.
During a Sunday interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union, Isaacman was asked directly whether humanity is alone in the universe.
"I've been to space twice, I didn't encounter any aliens up there yet," Isaacman said. "But when you think about it -- we got 2 trillion galaxies out there, who knows how many star systems within each of it. I would say the odds that we will find something at some point to suggest that we are not alone are pretty high."
Isaacman added the search for life is baked into NASA's broader scientific mission.
"Our job here is to go out and try and unlock the secrets of the universe, and one of those questions is, are we alone? So, I would say that is inherent in every one of our scientific endeavors," he said.
The debate over alien life escalated in February when former President Barack Obama said during a podcast interview that aliens are real -- though he had not personally seen them and that they are not held at Area 51.
The exchange happened during a "lightning round" portion of host Tyler Cohen's interview, where the journalist prefaced his question by noting the rare opportunity to speak with a president of the United States. Cohen asked directly: "Are aliens real?"
Obama's response was immediate and unequivocal: "They're real, but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in, what is it -- " Cohen interjected: "Area 51?"
"Area 51," Obama confirmed. "There's no underground facility, unless there's this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States." Obama later walked back the comments on social media, clarifying he saw no evidence of extraterrestrial contact during his presidency.
Trump pushed back sharply days later when asked by reporters about Obama's interview. "He gave classified information," Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy. "He's not supposed to be doing that. I don't know if they're real or not...He made a big mistake." Trump subsequently ordered the government to release files on UFOs and aliens.
A YouGov poll from September 2024 found a majority of Americans -- 53 percent -- believe aliens definitely or probably exist. That poll surveyed 1,135 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
A Pew Research Center poll from 2021 found that 65 percent of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, while 34 percent do not. Fifty-one percent of Americans believe UFOs spotted by people in the military are either "definitely" or "probably" evidence of intelligent life outside of Earth, according to the poll.
Scientists have not ruled out the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In September 2025, NASA's Perseverance rover uncovered rocks in an ancient river that scientists believe could hold clues to microscopic life that may have lived on the planet. Still, there has been no conclusive evidence of alien life.
President Donald Trump, via Truth Social in February: "Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)."
Vice President JD Vance, via The Benny Show, about his thoughts on aliens: "I'm obsessed with this. I've already had a couple of times where I'm like, all right, we're going to Area 51, we're going out to New Mexico. We're going to sort of get to the bottom of this. And then the timing of the trip just didn't work out. But trust me, anybody who's curious about this, I'm more curious than anybody. And I've got three years of the very tippy top of the classification. I'm going to get to the bottom of it."
Elon Musk discussed aliens during a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January: "We have 9,000 satellites up there, and not once have had to maneuver around an alien spaceship. I don't know. Bottom line is, we need to assume that life and consciousness is extremely rare, and it might only be us. If that's the case, then we need to do everything possible to ensure the light of consciousness is not extinguished."
Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, to podcaster Joe Rogan in 2025: "Based on the photos that I've seen, I'm very confident that there's things out there that have not been created by mankind."
Trump's directive to release UFO and alien-related government files remains in motion, with no firm public timeline announced.