Do you want to believe in aliens? Well, if you think that off-planet beings have already visited Earth, you’re among 21% of Americans who agree, according to new CBS News/YouGov poll results.
This poll of 2,023 nationally representative U.S. adults was conducted between June 4 and June 6. It follows the U.S. government’s release of records related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs). UAP is often used interchangeably with Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) a whistleblower claim that the U.S. government is aware of several species of alien life.
While one in five Americans believes we’ve already made contact intelligent extraterrestrial life, 46% thinks that we will in the future, and 33% thinks we never will. Most Americans (63%) believe there is life on other planets – that’s up from 48% in 1997 but down from 66% in 2021.
“The percentage who believe intelligent life exists on other planets has become more widespread in recent years,” CBS News noted. “Looking back just to 2010, fewer than half of Americans believed that. Since that time, higher numbers of men, women and people across age groups and education levels now believe in the existence of intelligent life.”
If we do have an undisputed meet up with extraterrestrials, 67% of the poll respondents said they would be curious about it. That was the most popular answer, followed by 47% who said they would be nervous, 32% who said they would be excited, 31% who said they would be scared, 21% who said they would feel vulnerable and 14% who said they would feel calm.
Just 17% of the respondents said they have actually seen something they believe to be a UFO, compared to 83% who said they haven’t. However, more than half (51%) said they think UFOs might be alien spacecraft, compared to 49% who think they are always human or natural activity.
A vast majority (84%) believe that the government knows more about UFOs than it has revealed.
“Most Americans have heard or read at least something about the federal government's release of files and videos related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAP, also known as Unidentified Flying Objects, and four in 10 report watching videos that were released,” CBS News said. “Three in 10 say this material has made them more likely to believe that aliens visited Earth, a figure that rises to four in 10 among those who have watched videos.”
This week, whistleblower David Grusch, a former Air Force Intelligence Officer, joined the bipartisan Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets to advocate for the disclosure of government files containing knowledge of alien lifeforms. They also called for whistleblowers on UAPs and UFOs to get immunity.
“For decades, unknown objects have freely operated in restricted airspace in large metropolitan areas and critical infrastructure, and the agencies responsible for securing the homeland cannot adequately defend against it,” Grusch said Tuesday. “This is a serious national security issue.”
He claimed that “many of the president’s team has been kept in the dark,” about this and other issues linked to alien life. Grusch also accused intelligence agencies of hiding billions in secret government spending from Congress.
“While lawmakers appeared fully prepared to discuss UAP disclosure and government transparency, they seemed far less eager to address the parallel cases involving missing scientists with ties to aerospace, defense and UAP-related research… a disconnect that struck many observers as unusual,” said a report from Los Angeles Magazine about the Tuesday press conference.
