Americans Are Increasingly Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth

Americans are becoming much unfastened to the thought that aliens person visited Earth, according to a bid of polls that amusement content successful alien visitation has been steadily connected the emergence since 2012.

Almost half—47 percent—of Americans accidental they deliberation aliens person decidedly oregon astir apt visited Earth astatine immoderate constituent successful time, according to a caller canvass from YouGov conducted successful November 2025 that progressive 1,114 big participants. That percent is up from astir a 3rd (36 percent) of Americans polled successful 2012 by Kelton Research, with the nonstop aforesaid illustration size. Gallup published polls connected this question successful 2019 and 2021 that likewise amusement an upward trend.

Moreover, radical look to beryllium getting disconnected the obstruction connected this issue, 1 mode oregon the other. Just 16 percent of Americans said they were unsure if aliens had visited Earth successful the caller poll, down from 48 percent who were unsure successful 2012. Meanwhile, adjacent arsenic content successful alien visitation has risen, truthful has doubt: The caller canvass shows that 37 percent of Americans said Earth apt hasn’t been visited by aliens, much than treble the 17 percent logged successful 2012.

It’s intolerable to cognize precisely wherefore Americans person go much receptive to alien visitation from these polls alone; they lone see earthy statistics, and deficiency granular details astir the circumstantial motivations for the participants’ responses.

“It’s important to enactment that this is simply a canvass astir belief,” says Susan Lepselter, an writer and subordinate prof of anthropology and American Studies astatine Indiana University who has written extensively connected alien beliefs and UFO experiences. “It's not a canvass astir experience, contact, feelings—nothing similar that.”

“We don’t cognize what their engagement is; we don't cognize if their content has been life-changing,” she adds. “We conscionable cognize 1 thing, which is that the statistic person moved from 1 acceptable of beliefs to another.”

Of course, it’s inactive possible—and let’s beryllium real, fun—to speculate connected the drivers of the trend. One evident culprit is simply a caller posture from organization quality sources, specified arsenic the US authorities and bequest media, which person yet started taking unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) seriously.

This displacement began with the merchandise of mysterious Pentagon UAP videos by The New York Times successful 2017, and has since been accelerated by spate of Congressional hearings, and a NASA autarkic survey connected UAP. The recently released documentary The Age of Disclosure, which features claims by erstwhile subject officials that the US authorities has covered up grounds of aliens visiting Earth, has supercharged the legitimacy to this erstwhile marginalized topic.

“The American public's getting, connected the 1 hand, reputable radical from the authorities talking astir UFOs successful The Age of Disclosure,” says Diana Walsh Pasulka, an writer and prof of spiritual studies astatine the University of North Carolina Wilmington who is an adept connected alien-related beliefs and subcultures.

On the different hand, Pasulka notes, popular civilization is wholly overrun by aliens. In 2025 alone, aliens were cardinal to superhero blockbusters (Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps), children’s movies (Lilo & Stitch and Elio), and adjacent the arthouse movie Bugonia. The Star Trek, Alien, and Predator franchises each released caller products this year. To apical it off, Steven Spielberg volition instrumentality to his cinematic obsession with aliens successful his much-anticipated movie Disclosure Day , owed retired successful 2026.

Pasulka points to probe by neuroscientist Jeffrey Zacks that shows these fashionable fictional representations person an immense interaction connected our imaginations and worldviews. This proliferation of alien fiction, combined with the normalization of aliens successful real-life nationalist forums, are similar a “one-two punch,” Pasulka says.

“Science fabrication plays a immense relation successful however we deliberation of aliens and extraterrestrial life,” she notes. “With what the authorities is opening to say, you person the world factor. These 2 things that are happening astatine this precise aforesaid time. That's truly going to interaction what Americans are going to believe.”

As precocious arsenic the aughts, the thought that aliens mightiness beryllium visiting Earth, oregon that they had successful the past, was coded arsenic fringe, oregon adjacent actively stigmatized. Jim Harold, big of The Paranormal Podcast and Jim Harold's Campfire, long-running shows that often sermon the anticipation of alien visitation, calls this improvement “kookification.”

“If you judge successful the thought that thing is visiting us, unfortunately, radical would accidental you were a kook,” helium says. “I inactive deliberation immoderate of that perseveres. I really deliberation determination are radical retired determination who are trying to enactment it backmost successful that bucket. I telephone it the re-kookification of the topic.”

Harold adds that overmuch of his assemblage feels vindicated by the flood of admissions from the US government, and the involvement from accepted media successful caller years. “For radical similar me, who judge that something's been going connected for a agelong time, it was benignant of like, ‘See, I told you,’” helium says. “There are immoderate things successful our skies we can't explain.”

Harold besides notes that involvement successful aliens—and specifically the content that they person visited Earth—is a uncommon contented that enjoys immoderate bipartisan statement successful the United States. This penetration is backed up by the caller poll, which recovered that 51 percent of Democrats judge aliens person visited Earth, compared with 49 percent of Independents and 42 percent of Republicans. Elected representatives of some parties person taken an unfastened involvement successful aliens and UAP, including Jared Moskovitz, the Florida Democrat, and Tim Burchett, the Tennessee Republican.

Likewise, societal media has played an undeniable relation successful the emergence of the content successful alien visitation. An ever-evolving pantheon of online platforms has allowed radical to marque unprecedented connections and physique immense communities with like-minded thinkers.

“Belief isn't this singular happening that resides successful america individually,” notes Lepselter. “Belief is societal and it emerges betwixt people. It's a full ambiance that connects with different contexts that we find ourselves in.”

Subcultures centered connected a big of alien theories person flourished, arsenic influencers, podcasters, and each mode of different contented creators stock hunches and experiences. Harold speaks to experts connected galore of these sub-theories, which interaction connected inter-dimensional beings, paranormal ghostly encounters, and aliens that mightiness look from wrong Earth oregon its oceans.

“People who are funny successful this subject, peculiarly radical who person been funny for immoderate time, are broadening their imaginable explanations,” helium says.

Of course, portion societal media has inspired caller connections, it tin besides trap radical successful conversational silos. Harold recommends that each media consumers beryllium wary of their sources—whether it’s a bequest cablegram web oregon his ain podcasts.

“It's a double-edged sword,” helium says. “On 1 hand, I deliberation it's fantastic that radical person places wherever they tin sermon these things with like-minded radical who volition beryllium unfastened to discussing it. Sometimes it's conscionable amusive to speech about. Let's look it: Everything doesn't person to beryllium a technological study.”

But, helium added, “the user needs to beryllium intelligent and effort to abstracted the wheat from the chaff. I say: Keep an unfastened mind, but not truthful unfastened your brains autumn out.”

While it’s wide that Americans are progressively entertaining the anticipation of alien visitation, Lepselter isn’t definite that the caller polling is simply a motion of a large oversea change.

“I'm not seeing immoderate gigantic apocalyptic question towards a life-altering content system,” she says. “You can't archer that from the poll. It conscionable seems that this is entering the realm of the thinkable and the sayable.”

Pasulka, meanwhile, predicts that the percent of Americans who judge successful alien visitation volition proceed to emergence for the foreseeable future.

“There's nary stopping this,” she concludes. “This is simply a caller mode of knowing reality.”