Surging Belief in Alien Visitors Is Becoming a Serious Problem For Our Society
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.
The figures are even higher in the US – and rising. The number of people who believe UFO sightings offer likely proof of alien life increased from 20 percent in 1996 to 34 percent in 2022. Some 24 percent of Americans say they've 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.
The belief is now rising to the extent that politicians, at least in the US, feel they have to respond. The disclosure of information about claimed Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs rather than UFOs) from the Pentagon has got a lot of bi-partisan attention in the country.
