Play video content EXCLUSIVE

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo -- the man who allegedly spearheaded the hoax on Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o -- has finally come out of hiding ... surfacing at his family home in Palmdale, CA on Saturday evening ... TMZ has learned.

Ronaiah was wearing a hoodie and tried to hide his face. He also didn't utter a single word when asked about his role in the hoax.

Just 24 hours before Ronaiah appeared in public, Manti had told ESPN ... Ronaiah had reached out to him -- confessed to the prank -- and apologized.

According to Manti, Ronaiah was the person who created "Lennay Kekua" -- who Manti believed was a real person ... and "dated" ... even though they never met in person.

Of course, the whole thing was a hoax -- Lennay never really lived ... or died from cancer on September 11.