perhaps it is the ‘getting started’ video showing a completely different GUI than what I have [4.26.2] but i accidentally closed the modes panel and there does not appear to be a way to bring it back?
maybe this is not so terribly important but i am just getting myself familiar with the GUI at the moment and that panel going away with no way to bring it back is something I’d love to figure out 
Have you tried Window → Editor Modes → Modes Panel ?
Edit:
Turns out 4.26 is different.
You got the “Place Actors” Tab and the Modes are in the Toolbar under “Modes”.
To restore the “Place Actors” Tab you can do the above.
Alternatively go to Window → Load Layout → Default Editor Layout to restore the default layout.
thanks 