Good afternoon, Chicago.
Former President Barack Obama said he did not see evidence that aliens “have made contact with us,” after sending social media abuzz by saying aliens were real on a podcast over the weekend. During a lightning round of questions with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama was asked, “Are aliens real?”
“They’re real,” he answered, continuing: “But I haven’t seen them. And, they’re not being kept in Area 51.”
The former president released a statement on Instagram yesterday, appearing to clarify what he meant by his comments that have since gone viral.
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
The farmhouse on the Joseph P. Bartlett Farm in Campton Township in Kane County is seen on Feb. 1, 2026. The home is the first site in Kane County to be verified as a designated safe house through a National Park Service initiative, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Kane County farmhouse verified as former Underground Railroad safe house in National Park Service initiative
The home is the first site in Kane County to be verified as a designated safe house through a National Park Service initiative, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, a program created in 1998 to show the history of resistance to enslavement. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Architecture and Design Film Festival opens with climate change as the subtext
Man accused in Portage TV theft scam is on the lam
Portage Mayor Austin Bonta speaks to financier Lou Weisbach during a news conference concerning the proposed Chicago Bears stadium and development in the city on Feb. 11, 2026. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune)
Win or lose, baiting the Chicago Bears could pay off for Portage. Here’s why.
Even if the Bears hibernate at another location, Portage’s pitch for a stadium could end up benefiting the city. Lou Weisbach, the man behind the financing for the proposed stadium, is connected with a capital C. Read more here.
More top business stories:
BP Whiting workers rally for fair contract as potential strike looms
Chicago Fire player Mauricio Pineda buys Loop condo for $680,000
Chicago Tribune reporter and sports columnist Ring Lardner, circa 1926. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)
Column: Ring Lardner’s ‘In the Wake of the News’ columns remain timeless more than a century later
Ring Lardner was one of the original occupants of the “In the Wake of the News” column, which dates to 1907 and remains the longest-running sports column in America. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
Chicago Cubs’ Tom Ricketts calls Marquee ‘maybe the smartest thing we’ve done’ amid shifting TV landscape
Figure skating is a young woman’s sport. Park Ridge native Deanna Stellato-Dudek wants to change that.
A red carpet was laid out in front of Symphony Center on Michigan Avenue during the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s fall opening weekend on Sept. 20, 2025. The CSO was the busiest orchestra in the world last year, according to Bachtrack. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Symphony is the world’s busiest orchestra — how that’s counted and what that means
A British publication recently affirmed what Chicago Symphony Orchestra audiences already know: the City of the Big Shoulders is home to a just-as-hardworking orchestra. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
Review: ‘Hamnet’ is rendered on stage by Royal Shakespeare — but haunted by a movie
Robert Duvall, star of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Great Santini,’ dies at 95
Bacon’s Castle in Surry is North America’s oldest brick dwelling. The Virginia home built was in 1665. (Bill Tiernan/The Virginian-Pilot)
The oldest building in Virginia is set to undergo a restoration
The historic Bacon’s Castle, the oldest building in Virginia and the oldest brick dwelling on the continent, is set to undergo a rare series of repairs to help preserve it. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
Rivian finds a way to shine even as the EV market struggles in the dark
Venezuelan housing prices jump as emigres consider buying
