Here is a brief summary of findings from the following studies:
- A YouGov study of people in Britain, Germany and the US
- An Ipsos study looking at the beliefs of people in the US
- A Chapman University study also looking at people in the US
Majorities across Britain, Germany and the USA believe that extraterrestrial life exists
A 2015 YouGov study of 1751 people found that more than one in two people in the UK, Germany and the US believe in intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. They also make the very important point that it is now a mainstream belief, not a fringe one.
The next time the subject comes up at the dinner table and you hear sniggers when someone admits they believe in aliens, it is worth remembering that it is not a fringe belief to think there is intelligent life out there – it is the mainstream viewpoint across the western world.
Here is a summary of the key findings:
This study was done on the premise that there is a lack of evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, something many would question, and asked respondents about this:
The majority of Americans believe in aliens
A 2020 Ipsos study showed that the majority of Americans believe there is intelligent life and civilisations on other planets. View all the questions they asked. This table shows the percentage of participants who agreed with each statement.
| There is life on other planets | 66% |
| There is intelligent life and civilizations on other planets | 57% |
| UFOs exist and have visited the Earth | 45% |
American has a population of around 230 million so that means that we could translate these percentages into numbers of people and make a table like this.
| There is life on other planets | 151 million people |
| There is intelligent life and civilizations on other planets | 131 million people |
| UFOs exist and have visited the Earth | 103 million people |
These are extraordinary numbers, considering they are only from one country.
Americans also believe aliens have visited Earth
A study by Chapman University in 2018 found that not only do some people believe in aliens, they believe they have visited Earth either in the ancient past or in modern times.
This table shows the percentage of participants that agreed or strongly agreed with each statement.
| Aliens have visited Earth in our ancient past | 41.4% |
| Aliens have come to Earth in modern times | 35.1% |
What do you think?