Umm... Okay...

At first, the radio host interviewing former NASA astronaut and Apollo 14 crewmember Dr. Edgar Mitchell thought he was being subjected to "some sort of astronaut humor..." but Mitchell was dead serious in claiming extraterrestrials have visited Earth for decades, and the truth will soon come to light.

"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," Mitchell said during a recent interview in the United Kingdom. "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 added. "Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."

Mitchell describes the alleged alien visitors as "little people who strange to us"... but NASA says the former moonwalker's claims look strange to them.

"NASA does not track UFOs," said an agency spokesman, reports The Adelaide Advertiser. "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 opinions on this issue," the spokesman added.

Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison says he first thought Mitchell, who shares the record for the longest-ever moonwalk with Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, was pulling his leg.

"I thought I'd stumbled on some sort of astronaut humor but he was absolutely serious that aliens are definitely out there and there's no debating it," Margerrison said.

Regardless of the doubters, Mitchell seems absolutely sincere in his claims.

"This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organizations are moving in that direction," Mitchell said.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.kerrang.com