James Christian Kimmel is an American comedian, television host and producer, born on November 13, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York. He has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC since January 2003. His place in UFO history comes from his interviews rather than any research or advocacy: over several years he put the same half-joking question about secret UFO files to former presidents and a presidential candidate, and in 2026 his guests included an actress describing an alien encounter.

Kimmel began in radio while still in high school and hosted a show on KUNV at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He co-hosted a Seattle morning show in 1989 and later spent five years at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles as "Jimmy the Sports Guy" on the Kevin and Bean show. In 1997 he became Ben Stein's comic co-host on Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein's Money, then co-hosted The Man Show with Adam Carolla from 1999 and co-created the prank-call series Crank Yankers.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered on January 26, 2003, after Super Bowl XXXVII and is taped at the El Capitan Entertainment Centre in Hollywood. Kimmel has hosted the Academy Awards four times, in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024, and the Emmy Awards three times. In December 2025 he extended his contract by a year, to May 2027.

The UFO question became a recurring bit. In April 2014 Bill Clinton told him that as president he "had people go look at the records on Area 51 to make sure there was no alien down there." In March 2015 Barack Obama deflected with "I can't reveal anything." In March 2016 Hillary Clinton, reminded that her husband had found nothing, said she would try again and corrected his terminology to "UAP," which she called "the latest nomenclature." George W. Bush answered in March 2017, "I'm not telling you nothing." The exchanges were recirculated in 2026. In a September 2026 interview, researcher Grant Cameron claimed Hillary Clinton had prepared a longer answer on disclosure that the interview never drew out; that account is his own.

Kimmel's 2026 guests brought the subject back to the show. In an episode posted on April 29, 2026, actress Goldie Hawn discussed what the show described as a close encounter with aliens in the 1960s, and Kimmel recounted her account of silver beings with triangular heads who touched her face. Taken together, his interviews form one of the best-known public records of how recent presidents and candidates have handled a direct UFO question on national television, usually with a joke.