Apollo 14 Astronaut Insists Extraterrestrials Have Made Contact With Earth

According to a story in the U.K.'s Daily Mail, former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, admitted in a recent radio interview that he knows for sure that the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials, and have been doing so since the 1940s. He claims that every time the aliens have made contact, the United States government has done everything it can to cover it up. He cites his position at NASA as evidence for the authenticity of his claims.

"'I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real,' Dr. Mitchell said. 'It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it.'"

"'I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited,' Mitchell continued. 'Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit.'"

A recording of the interview with Kerrang! host Nick Margerrison can be found here.

The producer of the radio program contacted NASA to get their opinion, and received this response:

"NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinion on this issue. Thanks for the opportunity to comment."

Keep in mind that The Daily News is not known as the most reputable news organization, and I cannot independently verify the recording of the interview. Even if if turns out Dr. Mitchell did really say these things, he does not provide any evidence for them. Even the testimony of a former astronaut and man of science cannot be taken by itself. Dr. Mitchell does not reference any documentation, all he offers is here say.

In addition to the lack of evidence, Dr. Mitchell's founding of the Institute for Noetic Sciences in 1973 does not make it easy for his story to be believed. Noetic sciences are defined thus, and rather questionably, on the Institute's website:

"Noetic sciences are explorations into the nature and potentials of consciousness using multiple ways of knowing—including intuition, feeling, reason, and the senses. Noetic sciences explore the "inner cosmos" of the mind (consciousness, soul, spirit) and how it relates to the "outer cosmos" of the physical world."

I don't want anyone reading this to think that I'm completely riding Dr. Mitchell off as a crackpot. Hell, this whole story may turn out to be a hoax. But, if he did really say all those things about aliens, all it really proves is that no human is immune to delusion. And if he's telling the truth? Great. I'd love to find out once and for all that Earth has in fact been visited by extraterrestrials. But, what one wants and what the evidence bears out are two separate things. Until Dr. Mitchell offers some hard, verifiable evidence for what he claims, even the testimony of an American hero must be called into question.