Robert Bigelow
Robert Bigelow said he was "absolutely convinced" that humanity had already made contact with aliens. Robert Bigelow

At least one space technology billionaire believes we’ve already encountered aliens — and they’re living among us. Robert Bigelow, the founder of Bigelow Aerospace, said he was “absolutely convinced” that aliens existed.

NASA gave Bigelow Aerospace a $17.8 million contract in 2013 to create an expandable space habitat that would be connected to the International Space Station. Bigelow, 73, appeared on 60 Minutes Sunday to discuss the technology and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

“Do you believe in aliens?” interviewer Lara Logan asked Bigelow.

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“I’m absolutely convinced,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.”

Logan also asked him if he believed if UFOs had already come to Earth.

Robert Bigelow
Robert Bigelow said he was "absolutely convinced" that humanity had already made contact with aliens. Bigelow Aerospace

“There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence,” Bigelow responded. “And I spent millions and millions and millions – I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject.”

Bigelow declined to go into detail about any specifics his company had gleaned from its research on the subject. He also said he didn’t care whether people thought he was crazy for his viewpoints because “it’s not gonna change the reality of what I know.”

“Do you imagine that in our space travels we will encounter other forms of intelligent life?” Logan asked.

“You don’t have to go anywhere,” said Bigelow. “It’s just like right under people’s noses.”

Bigelow, who has no formal training in science or technology, made his money through long-term rental apartments called the Budget Suites of America located on the Las Vegas strip, a fortune he launched into his private aerospace venture. The space mogul said he first became interested in extraterrestrials when his grandparents had an encounter with a UFO.

“It really sped up and came right into their face and filled up the entire windshield of the car,” he said. “And it took off at a right angle and shot off into the distance.”

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Bigelow’s inflatable space habitat was launched by SpaceX during a resupply mission last year to the International Space Station, the first habitat of its kind tested for humans on the space station. The structure, called BEAM, remained attached to the ISS.

His Las Vegas-based company was also working on a technology he called “Olympus” a project that could function as a standalone destination containing everything human beings need for life.

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NASA officials are given a tour of Bigelow Aerospace facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada, Feb. 4, 2011. NASA/Reuters