Individuals have gotten extra open to the concept that aliens have visited Earth, in accordance with a sequence of polls that present perception in alien visitation has been steadily on the rise since 2012.
Nearly half—47 %—of Individuals say they suppose aliens have undoubtedly or in all probability visited Earth in some unspecified time in the future in time, in accordance with a brand new ballot from YouGov performed in November 2025 that concerned 1,114 grownup members. That share is up from roughly a 3rd (36 %) of Individuals polled in 2012 by Kelton Analysis, with the very same pattern measurement. Gallup printed polls on this query in 2019 and 2021 that likewise present an upward pattern.
Furthermore, individuals appear to be getting off the fence on this difficulty, by hook or by crook. Simply 16 % of Individuals stated they have been not sure if aliens had visited Earth within the new ballot, down from 48 % who have been not sure in 2012. In the meantime, whilst perception in alien visitation has risen, so has doubt: The brand new ballot exhibits that 37 % of Individuals stated Earth possible hasn’t been visited by aliens, greater than double the 17 % logged in 2012.
It’s unattainable to know precisely why Individuals have turn out to be extra receptive to alien visitation from these polls alone; they solely embody uncooked statistics, and lack granular particulars in regards to the particular motivations for the members’ responses.
“It’s vital to notice that this can be a ballot about perception,” says Susan Lepselter, an writer and affiliate professor of anthropology and American Research at Indiana College who has written extensively on alien beliefs and UFO experiences. “It isn’t a ballot about expertise, contact, emotions—nothing like that.”
“We don’t know what their engagement is; we do not know if their perception has been life-changing,” she provides. “We simply know one factor, which is that the statistics have moved from one set of beliefs to a different.”
After all, it’s nonetheless doable—and let’s be actual, enjoyable—to invest on the drivers of the pattern. One apparent offender is a brand new posture from institutional information sources, such because the US authorities and legacy media, which have lastly began taking unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) critically.
This shift started with the discharge of mysterious Pentagon UAP movies by The New York Occasions in 2017, and has since been accelerated by spate of Congressional hearings, and a NASA unbiased research on UAP. The newly launched documentary The Age of Disclosure, which options claims by former army officers that the US authorities has coated up proof of aliens visiting Earth, has supercharged the legitimacy to this as soon as marginalized matter.
