Aug 15, 2015 12:02 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

A veteran astronaut named Edgar Mitchell not only claims to have knowledge of extra terrestrials' existence, but that they also have a special interest in Earth's affairs.

A member of the Apollo 14 mission and the sixth man to walk on the moon, Mitchell told Mirror Online he knew of high-ranking U.S. Military officials who saw UFOs during weapon testing sessions. He claims the ETs wanted to see what kind of weapons humans were capable of building, and then decided it was best if the Americans and Russians achieved peace.

"They wanted to know about our military capabilities," Mitchell told Mirror Online. "My own experience talking to people has made it clear the ETs had been attempting to keep us from going to war and help create peace on Earth."

At 84 years old, Mitchell resides in Hereford, Texas, the same town where he was born. But Mirror Online reported Mitchell "grew up in New Mexico near both the bomb testing zone and Roswell."

New Mexico is also home to the White Sands bombing range, where Mitchell claims the Cold War era Military leaders spotted UFOs observing tests.

"You don't know the area like I do," Mitchell told Mirror Online. "White Sands was a testing ground for atomic weapons - and that's what the extraterrestrials were interested in."

Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence UFO researcher, told the website all of Mitchell's claims appear to be based on what others have told him. However, he stopped short of discrediting the veteran astronaut.

"Edgar Mitchell is an honorable and truthful man, who I've had the privilege of meeting," Pope said. "Clearly, because of who he is, he's had access to government, military and intelligence community personnel at the highest level, but because - quite understandably - he won't name his sources, we can't be certain these people were being straight with him, or indeed that they were privy to any classified information about UFOs."

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