London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 27, 2026

Bill Clinton reveals he sent a team to Area 51 'to make sure there were no aliens'

Bill Clinton reveals he sent a team to Area 51 'to make sure there were no aliens'

Former President Bill Clinton this week revealed he sent his national security adviser to inspect Area 51 in Nevada for aliens when he served as president.

During an appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" that aired on Thursday, Clinton said he and his former chief of staff, John Podesta — who he said "loved science fiction" — "made every attempt to find out everything about Roswell."

"We also sent people to Area 51 to make sure there were no aliens," he said, to which Corden questioned who went to the once-top secret military base.

"Oh, if I told you that…" Clinton joked, before revealing he sent his national security adviser, Sandy Berger, who died in 2015 from cancer.

"I said, 'We gotta find out how we're gonna deal with this because that's where we do a lot of our invisibility research, in terms of technology, like how do we fly airplanes that aren't picked up by radar and all that,'" the 42nd president said.

"So that’s why they’re so secretive. But there's no aliens, as I know."

Clinton went on to recall a vacation he and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, took in Hawaii in 2018, during which they visited the W. M. Keck Observatory. After touring the telescopes on the mountain, he said he met with scientists, asking them if they fought about "the likelihood of life in outer space."

The scientists, Clinton told the crowd, said they have "huge arguments" about it.

"He said, 'There are those of us who think it’s 85% likely and those of us who think it’s 95% likely,'" Clinton said. "These are people who spend their lives doing this.

"He said, 'We think in other words, it's very unlikely that there is not life.' There are a billion — not a billion planets — a billion solar-like systems. There are lots of mysteries out there, which is why I think we should take good care of this planet; I think we oughta kind of hang on to it if we can. But I also think it should keep us humble. There's a lot of stuff we don’t know," he told the audience.

During his "The Late Late Show with James Corden" appearance, former President Bill Clinton said, "There's no aliens as I know."


In May, Congress held its first hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years. While it didn't reveal the existence of extraterrestrial life, it did affirm that the U.S. military is taking sightings of unknown craft seriously as a national security threat.

And last week, NASA announced that it was launching a team to study the mysterious sightings. Researchers will gather data on "events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena — from a scientific perspective."

NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, said: "Our strong belief is that the biggest challenge of these phenomena is that it's a data-poor field."

The study, which will start this fall and last nine months, will be open to the public, with no classified data used.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Middlesbrough House Fire Kills Woman and Seven-Year-Old Girl
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Return to UK Amid Renewed Media Attention
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After London Collision
Greenpeace Threatens Legal Action Over Crown Estate Offshore Wind Leasing
Nvidia Revenue Surges to Ninety-Six Point Two Billion Dollars on Artificial Intelligence Demand
Meta Agrees to Global Youth Safety Changes Following Multi-State Legal Settlement
UK Government Plans Autumn Summit With Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Leaders
CMA Caps Veterinary Prescription Fees at Twenty-One Pounds
Thames Water Pilot Records Forever Chemicals at Thirteen Times the Legal Limit
Kent Meningitis Outbreak Reaches Thirty-Four Confirmed Cases
Forty Children Missing From UK Asylum Accommodation Remain Unaccounted For
UK Court Upholds VAT on Private School Fees
US Designates Palestine Action as Foreign Terrorist Organization
UK Approves Massive New Chinese Embassy Complex in London Amid Security Concerns
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Visits Kyiv and Offers Cruise Missile Designs to Ukraine
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Andy Burnham Drops Plan to Cap Political Donations
Conservative Leadership Contest Intensifies as Robert Jenrick Attacks Kemi Badenoch
French-Born Defence Secretary Wes Streeting Condemns Homophobic Abuse Since Taking Office
UK Government Delays Commercial Robotaxi Rollout in London Over Regulatory Gaps
NHS Complaints About Autism and ADHD Care Waiting Times Triple Over Five Years
UK Government Launches 10,000 Work Placements for Young People With Sainsbury's
NHS England to Offer Free At-Home Cervical Cancer Screening Kits
EU Biometric Border Checks Cause Delays of Up to Five Hours for British Travellers
US Imposes Economic Sanctions on UK-Based Protest Group Palestine Action
Two Planned UK Datacentres Could Produce More Annual Carbon Emissions Than ExxonMobil's Entire UK Operation
London Surgeons Complete First Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Brain Tumour Removal
UK Services Growth Rebounds as Consumer Confidence Reaches Two-Year High
Ofgem Confirms Four Percent October Energy Price Cap Increase for UK Households
Government Considers Insolvency Law Changes to Bring Thames Water Into Public Ownership
Andy Burnham Signs Artificial Intelligence Defence Pact During Visit to Kyiv
Church of England Faces Renewed Scrutiny Over Historical Safeguarding Failures
Reform UK Proposes £30 Tax Credit for Long HMRC Telephone Queues
Greater Manchester Secures More Than £100 Million to Upgrade Victorian Railway Stations
East Midlands Railway Urges Essential Travel Ahead of Bank Holiday Strikes
UK Economy Grows 0.4 Percent in Second Quarter as Global and Energy Pressures Weigh
UK Government and Sainsbury’s Launch Plan for 10,000 Youth Work Experience Placements
Scottish Government Plans Tighter Remote-Working Rules and Possible Voluntary Redundancies
Scottish Budget Faces More Than £700 Million Reduction After Tax Revenue Adjustment
Nearly 100 Labour MPs Press Andy Burnham to Back Electoral Reform Commission
UK Energy Price Cap Rises Four Percent to £1,723 as Middle East Conflict Drives Wholesale Gas Costs
Turnbull Warns AUKUS Could Leave Australia Without Promised Nuclear Submarines
California Billionaires Pour More Than $150 Million Into Fight Over Proposed Wealth Tax
German Broadcaster Goes Dark to Warn AfD Could End Its Saxony-Anhalt Service
Badenoch Plans Major Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle as Tories Struggle in Third Place
UK Government Demands Action Against Social Media Content Promoting Dangerous Driving
×