Edgar Mitchell served as a U.S. Navy officer and NASA astronaut. He flew as lunar module pilot on Apollo 14 in 1971, becoming the sixth person to walk on the Moon.
After retiring in 1972, Mitchell stated that extraterrestrials had visited Earth and that the U.S. government covered up the 1947 Roswell incident. His claims rested on post-flight conversations with witnesses rather than direct NASA experience.
- Lunar Module Pilot, Apollo 14, February 1971; spent over nine hours on the lunar surface.
- Retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy in 1972; founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973.
- Stated in 2008 that governments covered up alien visits; cited Roswell witnesses in multiple interviews.
- Emailed John Podesta in 2015 calling for meetings on disclosure and zero-point energy.
- Died February 4, 2016, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
- United StatesBorn and raised; served as astronaut
- U.S. NavyOfficer and aviator 1952–1972; Captain
- NASAAstronaut 1966–1972; Apollo 14 crew
- Institute of Noetic SciencesFounder 1973
- Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPhD 1964
Background
Edgar Dean Mitchell was born on September 17, 1930, in Hereford, Texas, and grew up in Artesia, New Mexico. He earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial management from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1952. Mitchell then entered the U.S. Navy. He later obtained a Bachelor of Science in aeronautics from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1961 and a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964.
Mitchell served as a Navy aviator and test pilot before selection as a NASA astronaut in 1966. He worked on support crews for Apollo 9 and as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 10. During the Apollo 13 mission, he assisted in developing procedures in the lunar module simulator at Johnson Space Center. Mitchell flew as lunar module pilot on Apollo 14, launched January 31, 1971. He and commander Alan Shepard landed the lunar module Antares in the Fra Mauro highlands on February 5, 1971.
On the surface, Mitchell and Shepard conducted two extravehicular activities totaling more than nine hours. They deployed scientific instruments, collected nearly 100 pounds of lunar samples, and set records for time and distance on the Moon. The mission lasted nine days and returned safely on February 9, 1971. Mitchell logged 216 hours and 42 minutes in space during his only flight.
Mitchell served as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 16 but did not fly again. He retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy as a captain in 1972. In 1973 he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Palo Alto, California, to study consciousness and parapsychology. He conducted an unauthorized ESP experiment during the Apollo 14 flight and later wrote about his experiences in the 1996 book The Way of the Explorer.
Mitchell began speaking publicly about extraterrestrial topics in the 1990s. He stated that descendants of Roswell witnesses had contacted him with accounts of alien bodies and craft recovered in 1947. Mitchell described these sources as credible and concluded that a government cover-up had occurred. He emphasized that his information came from personal contacts rather than official NASA records.
In a 2008 Kerrang Radio interview, Mitchell said the UFO phenomenon was real and had been covered up by governments for a long time. He repeated similar claims in later interviews, including assertions that extraterrestrials had observed U.S. nuclear testing at White Sands and attempted to prevent nuclear war. Mitchell contacted officials, including emails to John Podesta in 2015 urging disclosure discussions.
Mitchell's statements drew media attention but no official NASA endorsement. Colleagues and the agency maintained that he had no access to classified UFO information during his career. He faced some public skepticism yet continued advocating for openness on extraterrestrial topics until his death.
Mitchell died on February 4, 2016, at age 85 in a West Palm Beach, Florida, hospice. He was one of twelve astronauts who walked on the Moon and the last surviving member of the Apollo 14 crew.
Legacy
Edgar Mitchell died on February 4, 2016, in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is remembered primarily for his Apollo 14 lunar landing and his post-retirement statements on extraterrestrial visitation and government secrecy.
His claims, based on hearsay from Roswell-era witnesses, have been cited in UFO disclosure discussions but remain unverified by official records.
Last updated 25 October 2026