Bill Clinton is intrigued by space aliens.

The former United States president appeared on Wednesday's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live." He ended up discussing, among other things, extraterrestrial life.

Clinton admitted that soon after becoming president, he had his aides research Area 51, the Nevada military facility, "to make sure there was no alien down there." He was also interested in Roswell, N.M., the site of a reputed UFO sighting in 1947, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary during Clinton's presidency.

"I had all the Roswell papers reviewed - everything," he told Kimmel.

"If you saw that there were aliens there, would you tell us?" Kimmel asked.

"Yeah," Clinton said, nodding.

Given the size of the universe, and the continued discovery of new planets, Clinton believes we're not alone.

"If we were visited someday I wouldn't be surprised," Clinton said. "I just hope it's not like 'Independence Day.'"

Clinton went on to discuss some of the potential benefits to an alien invasion, framing his argument around the 1996 sci-fi disaster movie.

"It may be the only way to unite this increasingly divided world of ours … think about all the differences among people of Earth would seem small if we feel threatened by a space invader," Clinton said.

"That's the whole theory of 'Independence Day. Everybody gets together and makes nice."

(Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images)