On Feb. 5, 1971, Edgar Mitchell became the sixth of only 12 men to step on the moon. Of that elite dozen, ... Mitchell is the only one to go on record about his controversial belief in extraterrestrial UFOs -- and of a possible government cover-up. While on active duty as a test pilot for the U.S. Navy, he completed an M.S. in aeronautical engineering at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a doctorate in aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mitchell also served in combat during the Korean War as a fighter pilot. In 1970, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After retiring from NASA in 1972, he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences. [Q]: You're ... known for your views on UFOs. What's your experience regarding the Roswell, New Mexico, incident of 1947? Mitchell: After my space flight, I was contacted by descendants of the original Roswell observers, including the person who delivered the child-sized coffins to the Air Force [alleged] to contain alien bodies. They all seemed credible with their stories that the bodies found were alien. [Q.]: If that's the case, why has it been hushed up? Mitchell: Initially I think there was justification in that leadership officials thought people weren't ready to handle it. But we are well past that now. But it's not just military. It's a cabal of organizations primarily for a profit motive. Think of what that could mean in terms of space travel with control of UFO machinery, technology. There's a lot of money involved.