While there are countless movies and TV shows about aliens landing on Earth, whether any other life forms really exist is another question. But it turns out, most Americans believe they do.
A new YouGov poll finds that 52% of Americans believe aliens either definitely or probably exist. Plus, 30% of folks believe UFOs are alien ships or life forms.
Of course existing is one thing, but visiting is another — and 47% of those polled believe aliens definitely or probably have at some point paid us a visit. Another 42% of people say those visits either definitely or probably happened in recent years.
And even if they haven’t already visited, some folks think it won’t be too long before we’ll see some sort of contact with alien life forms.
The poll finds that 16% of people think we’ll make contact with aliens in the next 10 years, although that number goes up to 31% for people who think aliens have already visited. Another 53% think it will take 50 years, while 71% think it won’t happen for another 100 years.
So, will making contact with aliens be a good thing? Turns out most people don’t think so, with 29% of people saying it would be a negative experience and only 14% thinking it would be positive.