Daily Mail UFO poll shows 40% think aliens have visited in last 50 years

This 2022 YouGov poll finds that skepticism regarding the existence of aliens had declined since the 1990s, when — according to a 1996 poll by Newsweek — only 20% of Americans believed that Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) were more likely to be proof of alien life than to have a natural scientific explanation (32%). Today, 34% of Americans believe UFOs are likely alien ships or life forms, while only 32% say they’re likely to have a scientific explanation.

New YouGov polling finds that most Americans believe aliens exist, and many think that aliens have paid a visit to Earth in recent years. Americans are more likely to believe alien encounters would have a negative effect on human civilization than to think it would have a positive effect, and many believe that aliens would bring new diseases and unintentional harm or outright hostility to people if we were to encounter them.