Surging Belief In Alien Visitors Is Becoming A Serious Problem For Our Society

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The idea that aliens may have visited the Earth is becoming increasingly popular. Around a fifth of UK citizens believe Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials , and an estimated 7 percent believe that they have seen a UFO.

This belief is slightly paradoxical as we have zero evidence that aliens even exist. What's more, given the vast distances between star systems, it seems odd we'd only learn about them from a visit. Evidence for aliens is more likely to come from signals from faraway planets.

In a paper accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , I argue that the belief in alien visitors is no longer a quirk, but a widespread societal problem.

Belief in a cover-up is even higher than belief in alien visitation. In 2019, a Gallop poll found that a staggering 68 percent of Americans believed that "the US government knows more about UFOs than it is telling".