In an Instagram post on Sunday, Obama said he had been trying to “stick with the spirit” of his interviewer, political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, during a wide-ranging podcast released Saturday. During a speed round, Obama told Cohen that aliens are real.

YouGov, a research and analytics firm, found last year that most Americans believe in aliens. Its poll results showed in November that 56% of adults, including 61% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans, said there is extraterrestrial life.