The revelation came after Mr Musk was sharing his thoughts on interplanetary exploration at the World Artificial Intelligence conference in Shanghai. The tech mogul dismissed speculation about the US Government being in contact with aliens and covering up their existence from the public. He said: “There are people out there who think we have found aliens. Trust me, I would know: We have not.

“People ask me if I have been to Area 51. Ok, please. SpaceX actually has area 59 and it’s eight better than area 51.” Mr Musk also spoke out about the importance of future exploratory missions to Mars, particularly if something were to happen to the Earth. He said: “Not from the standpoint of Mars just being an escape hatch or because I think Earth is doomed, but because there is a certain irreducible probability that something may happen to Earth. “Despite our best intentions and everything we try to do, there is a probability of external forces or some internal unforced error causing civilisation to be destroyed or sufficiently impaired such that it can no longer extend to another planet.”

Elon Musk claims SpaceX has a better branch than Area 51

Elon Musk made the claims about alien life at a conference in Shanghai

Mr Musk did not deny the existence of extraterrestrial life, however he claimed the fact we have not managed to see any aliens could indicate society is doomed for destruction. Some scientists suggest humanity is unable to detect extraterrestrial civilisations due to intelligent beings inevitably killing themselves or dying out in natural disasters before becoming sophisticated enough to journey through space or send messages. Mr Musk said: “I think we should not take it for granted that consciousness will continue because we have not encountered any aliens. “I think the thing about Mars is that it’s important for us to take the set of actions that are most likely to continue consciousness into the future.” JUST IN: Moon landing shock- How fuming Buzz Aldrin confronted NASA over Apollo 11 – ‘Not happy!’

He emphasised the need for interplanetary travel

SpaceX's 'Starhopper' made its debut launch

'Starhopper' blasted 150m into the air

Last week SpaceX moved one step closer to completing its aim to send humans to Mars after a successful test flight last week of its prototype rocket. The “Starhopper” is a prototype for the upcoming Raptor engines which are designed for SpaceX's Starship, which Mr Musk hopes will carry the first humans to Mars. After a number of false starts the rocket blasted 150 meters into the air above the Gulf coast last Tuesday. The single-engine version of the SpaceX Starship was air bound for almost a minute.

Map of Area 51

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