Survey on Extraterrestrial Visitation –

Public Feedback and Analysis

Exopolitics Institute, Hawaii, USA

Report Author: Michael E. Salla, M.A., Ph.D[1]

Survey Highlights

1099 individuals participated in an online survey on possible extraterrestrial visitation to Earth. The survey was conducted over a twelve month period from March 17, 2006 to March 19, 2007. Key results are the following:

1. 85% of respondents believe that extraterrestrial civilizations are visiting the Earth;

2. 86% believe that the U.S. and other national governments are “covering up information about extraterrestrial visitors;”

3. 73% of respondents would be “excited and hopeful” if national governments announced the existence of extraterrestrial visitors;

4. 57% of respondents said they “would understand” an official policy of covering up extraterrestrial visitation on national security grounds;”

5. 48% of respondents would be “very angry and call for the punishment of responsible officials” if agreements with extraterrestrials were outside of constitutional processes;

6. Almost 62% did not support the use of space weapons against extraterrestrial visitors;

7. And, over 85% wished for extraterrestrials to “show up” and “indisputably prove their existence to the world”.

Goals. The Online Survey on Extraterrestrial Visitation was conducted to assess public attitudes on a number of issues relating to the “extraterrestrial hypothesis” - that UFOs are interplanetary in origin - and that various government authorities have been suppressing this information for over five decades. The survey used as its sample population internet users familiar with some of the literature on UFOs and extraterrestrials in order to gain informed feedback on key issues concerning the way information on extraterrestrial visitation has been historically managed. The survey also provides feedback on the suitability of questions for later surveys intended to be conducted offline with the general public who are largely unaware of UFO/exopolitical literature available on the internet. The main goal of the survey is to gain information on the general public’s opinions on important issues concerning extraterrestrial visitation, and to help raise public awareness. These issues are likely to rapidly emerge in mainstream public debates in the near future.

Method. Survey questions were drafted after review of questions used by two earlier public surveys. The Roper Poll surveying 1021 adults was conducted in 2002 on the topic “UFOs and Extraterrestrial Life: Americans’ Beliefs and Personal Experiences.”[2] The National Geographic Poll surveying 1000 adults was conducted in 2006 by The Center for Survey Research and Analysis and focused on the topic of extraterrestrial life in the universe.[3]  The draft survey was then distributed on March 13, 2006 to members of the Exopolitics Institute for feedback and assessment. Based on feedback, a final set of questions was developed and presented through a professional internet polling company, QuestionPro Web Services.[4] This provided an independent tabulation of survey responses. QuestionPro allowed poll respondents to directly enter their responses online and to view final results online. QuestionPro used a format that encouraged users to respond but once, and discouraged repeated responses. This policy discourages duplication and possible skewing of results. The survey is ongoing, thereby allowing a wider sampling of internet users familiar with information on extraterrestrials.

The survey was publicly launched on March 17 and is being promoted through the websites and forums associated with the Exopolitics Institute and Exopolitics.Org, as well as popular UFO forums. Website visitors would click on a live link that invited them to take an online survey.[5] Upon completion they would be able to view the cumulative results.[6]

As of March 19, 2007, the survey has had a total of 1099 individuals complete it online. A total of 1312 individuals have begun the survey with 213 dropping out at various stages or not completing all questions. The survey completion rate was 83.77%. The average survey completion time is 6 minutes. Respondents were also able to provide comments at the end of the survey that provided some insights into the appropriateness of questions and of possible revisions.

Survey Analysis.

The online survey contained ten questions that tested public views on a range of issues associated with extraterrestrial visitation. In order to better evaluate the survey results, I use earlier surveys by the Roper Poll and National Geographic as comparative sources. The main difference between the polls was that the Roper Poll and the National Geographic polls used random samples drawn from the USA. In contrast, the Exopolitics Institute survey is based on internet respondents drawn from an international audience and was based on self-selection by interested online respondents. What follows are the raw results of the online survey generated by Questionpro on November 25, followed by commentary contrasting results with the Roper and National Geographic polls.

Q. 1.  Do you believe that advanced extraterrestrial life is currently visiting the Earth in UFOs?

Analysis. The affirmative result is significantly higher than comparable questions in the two other sample polls. The Roper Poll asked respondents if they believed UFOs were real and have visited the earth in some form. Almost 48% of respondents answered yes. The most similar question in the National Geographic poll asked whether there is life on other planets besides earth, 59.5% answered yes. The statistically higher result in the Exopolitics Institute survey can be attributed to the target population being conversant with literature on extraterrestrial civilizations and having had direct personal experiences validating the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

2. Do you believe that your national government is covering up information about extraterrestrial visitors and/or UFOs?

Analysis

A similar question appeared in the Roper poll which asked respondents if they believe the “Government does not tell everything it knows about UFOs and extraterrestrial life.” The result was that 72% and 68% respectively said the government is covering up information about UFOs and extraterrestrial life. The higher percentage in the Exopolitics Institute survey (86.31%) might be attributed to the following factors. One, there is growing public awareness of government cover ups of information. Two, online users interested in UFOs and extraterrestrial issues are more disposed to believing in a government cover-up of extraterrestrial information. And three, an international audience is more likely to believe in a government cover ups of UFO/extraterrestrial information.

3. How would you react if your government announced that it had just learned that extraterrestrials are visiting the Earth?

Analysis

A similar question appeared in the National Geographic Survey requesting reactions to any announcement of life on other planets. The results for the National Geographic survey were 72.1% respondents replied they would be “excited and hopeful”; 19.6% replied they would be afraid and nervous, while 7.9% replied don’t know. The similar result with the Exopolitics Institute survey of 73.31% replying they would be excited and hopeful at the announcement of extraterrestrial life/visitation suggests that there are strong positive views associated with such an event. This suggests that public attitudes towards extraterrestrial visitation and/or life anticipates many positive societal and technological changes associated with such an announcement. In contrast, the relatively low percentage of 7.10% saying they would be afraid and nervous was significantly less than the random population recorded in the National Geographic survey of 19.6%. This suggests that as individuals become more informed about extraterrestrial visitation, that they are less likely to be afraid and nervous at any public disclosure. Importantly, the result also suggests that any future government announcement ‘spinning’ the extraterrestrial presence in ways that manipulate residual fear among the population, would not be believed by a significant proportion of the population.

4. How would you feel if extraterrestrial visitors showed up in large numbers over major cities?

Analysis

This question is a follow up to question three and gives more of an idea of the impact of extraterrestrial visitation becoming an incontrovertible fact. The result suggests that direct physical evidence of extraterrestrial visitation leads to appreciably greater public concern than the announcement of extraterrestrial life. Nevertheless, half the respondents (50.69%) believe that extraterrestrials showing up would lead to many positive societal and technological changes. A very significant minority (26.94%) would be nervous and afraid. This may be explained in two ways. One, there is public awareness of what has historically occurred with colonialism when one society with superior technical capacities appears on the shores of another. Two, media portrayals of extraterrestrial invasions have deeply influenced a segment of the population. This segment could be easily manipulated by individuals and groups desiring to exploit fears of extraterrestrial colonialism and/or invasion.

5. How would you react if your government announced that it has for several decades covered up the truth about extraterrestrial visitors for national security reasons?

Analysis.

This question is the first of three that addresses issues arising from an alleged cover up of information of extraterrestrial visitors identified by the Roper Poll and Exopolitics Institute survey question #2 concerning an official government cover up. It raises the issue of national security as a plausible justification for covering up such information. The response suggests that a clear majority (57.44%) would seek to understand the national security reasons for such a cover up. A significant minority (28.81%) would seek to have officials punished regardless of the national security reasons they might offer. A smaller number (7.18%) would defer to responsible public officials in managing the extraterrestrial phenomenon without public revelations.

6. How would you respond to an official announcement by the United States that former government officials have entered into agreements with extraterrestrial visitors outside of the processes described by the US Constitution?

Analysis

This question is the second of three that addresses issues arising from an alleged cover up of information of extraterrestrial visitors identified by the Roper Poll and question #2 of the Exopolitics Institute survey. It raises the specific issue of alleged agreements between US governmental authorities and extraterrestrial visitors reached outside of US constitutional processes. The response suggests that respondents are more willing to accept a cover up due to national security reasons than for agreements outside of constitutional process. Most respondents (48.28%) would act to have responsible officials punished for violating constitutional processes. A significant minority (37.36%) would seek to better understand the reasons for such a departure from constitutional processes.

7. What should be done if it were discovered that officials were complicit in unconstitutional activities in dealing with extraterrestrial visitors and keeping this secret?

Analysis

This question is the last of three that addresses issues arising from an alleged cover up of information of extraterrestrial visitors identified by the Roper Poll and question #2. It raises the specific issue of unconstitutional or illegal activities by public officials in maintaining secrecy concerning the cover up of extraterrestrial visitation. The responses are divided between respondents not accepting national security justification for performing such actions and those accepting national security justifications. A clear majority of those rejecting national security reasons for such activities are almost equally divided between those wanting to punish such officials and those desiring an amnesty in exchange for full disclosure of their activities. A relatively small minority (15.06%) of respondents would accept such activities for legitimate national security justifications. This suggests that justifications for unconstitutional actions based on national security will not be widely accepted by the vast majority of the general public.

8. Do you agree that advanced space weapons are necessary for defending the Earth against extraterrestrial visitors?

Analysis

This question addresses the issue of using space weapons against extraterrestrial visitors. A clear majority (61.80%) reject the need for and use of such weaponry. A relatively small minority (13.08%) support such weapons presumably on the basis of extraterrestrial visitors posing a credible national security threat. A relatively large minority (24.40%) remain undecided presumably due to conflicting information on the motivation and activities of alleged extraterrestrial visitors.

9. Do you think a United Nations supervised "Decade of Contact" is desirable for preparing the global population for the truth about visiting extraterrestrial civilizations?

Analysis: A simple majority of respondents (51.17%) are supportive of multilateral organizations such as United Nations playing a supervisory role in educating the global public about extraterrestrial visitors. A significant minority (29.05%) are opposed and presumably would desire either national organizations and/or non-governmental organizations to play this role. This suggests that there is significant opposition to centralizing any educative processes to prepare the global population for extraterrestrial visitation. A relatively large proportion of respondents (19.78%) remain undecided as to the best means of educating the global population of extraterrestrial visitation.

10. Do you wish for extraterrestrials to "show up" and indisputably prove their existence to the world?

Analysis

This question addresses the possibility that extraterrestrial visitors might take the initiative in showing up. In contrast to question four that addressed individuals feelings if extraterrestrial visitors showed up, this question seeks to identify levels of public approval for such an initiative taken by extraterrestrials. An overwhelming majority (85.29%) would be comfortable in giving their permission for extraterrestrials to show. Only 5.69% would be opposed to extraterrestrials showing up. Recalling from question four that 26.94% would be “nervous and afraid” if ETs showed up en masse over major cities, this result suggests that individual anxiety over extraterrestrial visitation would not preclude such individuals from giving permission for extraterrestrials showing up. The large affirmative answer is likely based on three factors: 1 the high level of dissatisfaction with the government cover up of extraterrestrial information; 2. participants being willing to approve extraterrestrials showing up; 3. individuals desiring incontrovertible action in ending the government cover up.

Conclusions

Based on the number of respondents, the high completion rate and participant feedback, the survey achieved its primary goal of providing feedback on public responses to possible government suppression of information concerning extraterrestrial visitation. It’s important to point out that survey participants were self-selecting; finding a link to the poll on websites or discussion forums dealing with UFOs/extraterrestrials. Survey respondents therefore represent individuals familiar with some of the information available on the internet concerning possible extraterrestrial visitation. The survey outcome therefore reflects a relatively well informed sample population concerning national governments covering up information related to extraterrestrial visitation.

Survey participants display an eagerness to respond to issues concerning a possible government cover up of extraterrestrial visitation. For many participants, this was an important opportunity to possibly influence the policy making process concerning extraterrestrial visitation and was a valuable exercise. The high completion rate suggests that many participants found the survey a valuable means of expressing their opinions of government policy concerning possible extraterrestrial visitation, an area that is still not addressed in the public arena. This observation is reflected in policy questions two, five and seven, each of which had less than 8% of respondents answering “Don’t know”. A number of respondent comments confirmed the self-empowering nature of the survey. This suggests that it is a valuable exercise to survey individuals on a variety of issues concerning possible extraterrestrial visitation and resulting government policy.

There were also a number of suggestions for improving the survey. First, participants are interested in a more nuanced set of responses for dealing with government complicity in covering up information or for government officials violating constitutional processes. A number of respondents raised the idea of a “Truth Commission” for extracting information from complicit government officials. Second, a more nuanced set of emotional responses for extraterrestrials showing up were requested. This is reflected in the relatively high percentage of “Don’t know” responses for questions three (19.59%) and four (22.38%). And third, a number of respondents were interested more nuanced questions in terms of possible extraterrestrial motivations and activities. This is confirmed by the relatively high number of “Don’t know” responses to question eight (24.40%) and also partly for question ten (9.03 %).

In conclusion, the survey indicates a high degree of intellectual and emotional maturity of respondents in dealing with a range of very complex issues concerning possible extraterrestrial visitation and government cover-up of evidence. Individuals are eager to have governments disclose the truth about extraterrestrial visitation, and to deal with the policy implications of the cover up in a manner that respects national security concerns. Significantly, over 85% of respondents desire for extraterrestrials to indisputably demonstrate their presence. This suggests widespread public opposition to any government cover-up of extraterrestrial information, and a desire for greater transparency concerning extraterrestrial visitation. In general, the survey demonstrates that the general public is ready to play a more active role in ensuring greater transparency and accountability regarding government policy on extraterrestrial visitation.

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The Exopolitics Institute is a registered 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization based in Kealakekua, Hawaii, dedicated to studying the key individuals, institutions and political processes associated with extraterrestrial life.

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About the Report Author. Michael E. Salla, M.A., PhD., He has held full time academic appointments at the Australian National University, and American University, Washington DC. He is the author of Exopolitics: Political Implications of the Extraterrestrial Presence (Dandelion Books, 2004) and author/editor of four other books on International Politics. His personal website is: www.exopolitics.org