the truth is out there. this man let it slip in public.

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(clicky)European commission president says he spoke to "leaders of other planets" about brexit.

translation- "It should be known that those who observe us from afar are very worried. I met and heard and listened to several of the leaders from other planets who are very concerned because they question the path the European Union will engage on. And so, a reassurance is needed for both the Europeans and those who observe us from … farther away.”

what does he know that we don't?

Maybe he meant "pays" (countries) rather that planets... or he meant the other leaders of our planet... I see nothing else.

why then, would he mention "those who observe us from … farther away.”

Maybe, it is a bad translation. Is he speaking French?

yup, he's parlayin' the ol' francaise, it would seem.

transcription of the original French speech: “Il faut savoir que ceux qui nous observent de loin sont très inquiets. J’ai vu et entendu et écouté plusieurs des dirigeants d’autres planètes qui sont très inquiets puisqu’ils s’interrogent sur la voie que l’union européenne va poursuivre. Et donc, if faut rassurer, et les européens, et ceux qui nous observent de plus… loin.”

Any Wrongplaneteers speak French?

took about a year's worth decades back when I was young. I know just enough to know that when he said "des dirigeants d’autres planètes" that he likely meant what he said, namely that he and "several leaders from other planets" communicated.

i think leaders from other planets would not care much what the EU is doing.

they might care if it had anything to do with the retardation of planned one-world-global accord. they might rather deal with one global governmental entity rather than hundreds of local ones.

I too have the impression that he made a mistake and meant "pays" (countries), not "planètes" (planets). I think his intention was to say "global leaders".

Well, "de loin" or "de plus loin" is more like "from a distance" and it doesn't have the same kind of connotations as "far/farther away" can carry in English It could easily refer to countries on a different continent for instance.

why would a French speaker make such an elementary [glaring] mistake unless it was intentional? and why did his tone of voice change when he said "plus...loin." ?

I don't know what part of Luxembourg he's from, his native tongue could be German and French his second and such mistakes are easy to make even in your native language when you have to switch between languages on a daily basis as I imagine he does (at one time, I had to switch like this between three languages and if tired or stressed I ended up making mistakes in all of them, including my own).

To me he came across as concerned and distracted so that might also explain it. Maybe in his mind he sees the whole thing catastrophic enough to literally deserve universal attention

Ah and regarding the tone of voice/hesitation: if you noticed, when he says "planets" there's a reaction from other people, he might have become a bit hesitant later trying to figure why that happened.

Of course, he might have just gone bonkers, you never know!

as they say in those parts, "peut-être."

I do; it's my first language. He really did say "from other planets", but that's probably not what he meant; he may have been tired or something.