By Lianne Kolirin, CNN
(CNN) — Former US President Barack Obama said he’s seen no evidence that aliens have made contact with Earth, clarifying his position on extraterrestrials after comments he made in a podcast went viral.
Obama found himself in the spotlight over the weekend after he appeared to confirm the existence of aliens in an interview he did with US podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen.
Towards the end of the interview, which dealt with a range of heavyweight issues such as the killing of protesters at the hands of immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota, Cohen posed a series of questions in a “lightning round,” starting with: “Are aliens real?”
“They’re real but I haven’t seen them,” replied Obama. “And they’re not being kept in… what is it? Area 51. There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
The second question in that round was “what was the first question that you wanted answered when you became president?,” to which Obama replied, laughing: “Where are the aliens?” The interviewer did not delve into the response, instead going straight onto the next question.
Obama’s answer was picked up by international media, as well as people on social media. On Sunday evening, Obama issued a statement to clarify his position.
He posted the clip of his original comments on Instagram, accompanied by a short statement, saying: “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.
“But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
It’s not the first time that Obama has spoken out on the issue. In an appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” He said: “What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there are, there’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are.
“We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is.”
Conspiracy theories involving extraterrestrial life have long abounded about Area 51, a highly classified United States Air Force facility located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada.
One popular UFO conspiracy is that in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico, remains from a flying saucer that supposedly crashed were taken to Area 51 for reverse engineering experiments in order to replicate the extraterrestrial spacecraft.
In June 2019, a poll conducted by YouGov found that 54% of US adults think it is likely the government knows more than it’s telling about UFOs.
CNN’s Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.
CNN
By Alexandra Banner, CNN
Many Americans will enjoy a day off for the federal holiday today, but there’s little agreement on what to call it. Depending on the state, it may be known as Presidents’ Day, President’s Day or Presidents Day — a subtle shift in apostrophe placement that has fueled decades of debate.
Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.
1⃣ Nancy Guthrie
The search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has now stretched into a third week after she was abducted from her Arizona home. Nancy’s daughter, “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, appeared to address her mother’s alleged captors in another video posted to social media on Sunday. “It is never too late to do the right thing,” she said. Meanwhile, investigators hope DNA from a glove recovered about two miles from Nancy’s residence will lead them closer to a suspect. Investigators have still not zeroed in on a leading motive for her disappearance, a source told CNN.
2⃣ DHS shutdown
The Department of Homeland Security is shut down amid a bitter policy fight over immigration reforms. The funding lapse will not affect nationwide ICE enforcement, border czar Tom Homan said. While Homan has stressed that he is not directly involved in the funding negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House, he has rejected several of the Democrats’ proposed conditions. A major sticking point is whether immigration agents should wear masks during enforcement operations. “I don’t like the masks either,” but threats and assaults against ICE officers are rising, he told CBS. “These men and women have to protect themselves,” he added.
3⃣ Board of Peace
The Trump administration is planning its first meeting of the “Board of Peace” this Thursday in Washington, as the multinational organization tasked with resolving global conflicts faces lingering questions about its broader mission. The board, chaired by President Donald Trump, was originally pitched as a limited body tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which was devastated by the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to a draft of its charter, its mission has since expanded to address conflicts worldwide. On Sunday, Trump said the board will unveil a $5 billion pledge for Gaza’s reconstruction and that member states “have committed thousands of personnel” to bolster security in the enclave.
4⃣ Severe weather
Multiple storm systems are set to slam the Pacific Coast this week, bringing heavy rain and potential flooding as they push inland. Winter weather alerts are in effect across parts of California, Nevada and Oregon ahead of two systems expected in the coming days. Meanwhile, some scientists are raising concerns after the Trump administration announced plans to remove a key supercompute
By Alexandra Banner, CNN
Many Americans will enjoy a day off for the federal holiday today, but there’s little agreement on what to call it. Depending on the state, it may be known as Presidents’ Day, President’s Day or Presidents Day — a subtle shift in apostrophe placement that has fueled decades of debate.
Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.
1⃣ Nancy Guthrie
The search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has now stretched into a third week after she was abducted from her Arizona home. Nancy’s daughter, “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, appeared to address her mother’s alleged captors in another video posted to social media on Sunday. “It is never too late to do the right thing,” she said. Meanwhile, investigators hope DNA from a glove recovered about two miles from Nancy’s residence will lead them closer to a suspect. Investigators have still not zeroed in on a leading motive for her disappearance, a source told CNN.
2⃣ DHS shutdown
The Department of Homeland Security is shut down amid a bitter policy fight over immigration reforms. The funding lapse will not affect nationwide ICE enforcement, border czar Tom Homan said. While Homan has stressed that he is not directly involved in the funding negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House, he has rejected several of the Democrats’ proposed conditions. A major sticking point is whether immigration agents should wear masks during enforcement operations. “I don’t like the masks either,” but threats and assaults against ICE officers are rising, he told CBS. “These men and women have to protect themselves,” he added.
3⃣ Board of Peace
The Trump administration is planning its first meeting of the “Board of Peace” this Thursday in Washington, as the multinational organization tasked with resolving global conflicts faces lingering questions about its broader mission. The board, chaired by President Donald Trump, was originally pitched as a limited body tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which was devastated by the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to a draft of its charter, its mission has since expanded to address conflicts worldwide. On Sunday, Trump said the board will unveil a $5 billion pledge for Gaza’s reconstruction and that member states “have committed thousands of personnel” to bolster security in the enclave.
4⃣ Severe weather
Multiple storm systems are set to slam the Pacific Coast this week, bringing heavy rain and potential flooding as they push inland. Winter weather alerts are in effect across parts of California, Nevada and Oregon ahead of two systems expected in the coming days. Meanwhile, some scientists are raising concerns after the Trump administration announced plans to remove a key supercomputer from the National Center for Atmospheric Research — one of the world’s top weather and climate research centers. The administration views the center as a source of climate change alarmism, even as researchers say it benefits the American people by leading to more accurate forecasts of extreme weather
By John Towfighi, CNN
(CNN) — When Howard Silverblatt first started working on Wall Street, the S&P 500 was at 99.77 points. The week before he retired, the benchmark index was up by 70 times that, to 7,000.
That’s an eye-popping increase — but maybe not surprising, considering Silverblatt started his career on May 17, 1977.
This January Silverblatt hung up his hat after a nearly 49-year run at Standard & Poor’s — now S&P Dow Jones Indices. He’s a legend on Wall Street as a markets analyst, a trusted source for journalists, and a well-documented data wizard.
It’s all left him uniquely positioned to share the lessons he’s learned from a career stretching across booms, busts, and a transformation in investing. As for the Dow, the blue-chip index traded in the 900s when Silverblatt began his career, and crossed 50,000 points one week after his retirement.
Silverblatt, a native of Brooklyn, New York, spoke with CNN by phone from Florida.
Know how much risk you can stomach
Know what you’re buying — and know the risks.
There are fewer publicly traded companies on the stock market now than when Silverblatt began his career in the ’70s. But there are endless offerings of exchange-traded funds, derivatives and other securities that investors can buy and sell in an instant. That has made it all the more critical for investors to remain vigilant about where they’re putting their money, he said.
Record highs in the stock market — which the Dow and S&P recently hit — are great opportunities to review your portfolio and ensure it is well-diversified.
“Am I still on track with what I want, and all my allocations? Or did the market change it? And do I want to change it back?” he said. “You really need to know your risk tolerance and liquidity.”
Keep an open mind and strive to learn
Silverblatt said he was always good with numbers, stemming from his father’s job as a tax accountant.
“I remember, literally, my first job was at home when I’m seven, eight years old, putting physical checks in order,” he said.
After graduating from Syracuse University, Silverblatt entered a training program at S&P in downtown Manhattan in the late 1970s.
Silverblatt stayed at the company for the entirety of his career. He said developments in communications, information and technology were the most notable shifts across his career, and it is reflected in the US market: There are 10 American companies worth more than $1 trillion, and eight of those are tech companies.
It’s great when stocks go up. Are you prepared for when they go down?
The Dow reaching 50,000 is an amazing milestone, Silverblatt said. But he noted a key fact of the math — a 1,000-point increase from 49,000 to 50,000 is a change of 2%. It’s much less significant than, say, the Dow going from 1,000 to 2,000, which is a 100% increase. It’s a reminder to keep your eye on percent changes in the market instead of points.
Over time, as the Dow hitting 50,000 exemplifies, the market tends to climb higher. As for market exuberance, Silverblatt emphasized the need for investors to be cautious and well-informed.
Silverblatt said Black Monday — the biggest single-day stock market drop in history on October 19, 1987 — still stands out as one of the most eye-opening and memorable moments of his career. The S&P 500 plunged 20.47% in one day.
He remembers it as an analyst — and as a personal investor. He didn’t lose anything that fateful Monday, he joked, because he‘d already sold everything by Friday.
After Black Monday, two memorable Wall Street moments for Silverblatt were Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns going under amid the 2008 financial crisis, and the advent and development of brokerage houses and how they changed access to the stock market.