Bill Clinton assures Jimmy Kimmel he checked Area 51 for aliens when he became president

On Wednesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live, former President Bill Clinton shared what he believes is the only sure-fire way to achieve world peace -- facilitate an alien invasion.

The former president said that, shortly after taking office in 1992, he had his aides research a whole list of places featured on the then-popular television show The X-Files, including Area 51 -- the infamous Nevada military base -- just "to make sure there was no alien down there."

He also "had all the Roswell papers reviewed," he said, referring to material about what UFO conspiracy theorists believe was an alien crash site in the New Mexico desert.

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

"Sure," Clinton said, vigorously nodding.

"If we were visited someday I wouldn’t be surprised,” Clinton told Kimmel. “I just hope it’s not like Independence Day."

"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."

That is not, in fact, the "theory" of Independence Day, merely an element of its narrative. It is, however, the plan espoused by super-villain Adrian Veidt in the hit 2009 film Watchmen, based on the award-winning Alan Moore graphic novel of the same name.

Watch segments of the interview from ABC News below.

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