By E&T editorial staff
A nationwide survey has revealed that 11 per cent of the British public think they have actually seen a UFO, 26 per cent believe that aliens exist and more than half agree that intelligent life exists somewhere else in the universe.
The poll, commissioned by the Blaze TV channel, also revealed the widely held belief that intelligent life exists beyond our world, according to 56 per cent of respondents, and that the UK government is withholding important information regarding UFOs.
More than a quarter (27 per cent) of those surveyed think that the UK government should have a war or battle plan in place for a potential alien invasion, while nearly a third (31 per cent) feel there should be a dedicated task force for dealing with extra-terrestrial threats.
Confidence in world governments to deal with a potential alien invasion is low, with well over half of those surveyed (58 per cent) believing that our current leaders are unsuited to such a task. 15 per cent of those polled apparently believe that aliens will likely dominate Earth in the next 20 years.
Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator who has been advising Blaze ahead of the TV channel’s ‘UFO Week’, said, “2021 is going to be a big year for UFO stories, particularly with the US Department of Defense due to reveal UFO information following the enactment of the Covid-19 Relief Bill, which included a demand that the Director of National Intelligence send Congress a report about UFOs.
“This survey demonstrates that beliefs in UFOs and the extra-terrestrial are widespread and that there is a real appetite among the general population for evidence to be made public.”
Pope’s former governmental duties included investigating UFO sightings to determine whether they had any defence significance from 1991 to 1994.
“As far as I am aware, no such UK government plan to deal with any alien invasion or extra-terrestrial contact exists,” he said. “As such, the public’s lack of confidence in the government to respond effectively to a UFO incident is both fair and concerning.”
The Roswell incident in 1947 is the most famous example of suspected UFO activity in recorded history and is scheduled tofeature heavily in Blaze’s UFO Week programming.
A quarter (25 per cent) of the UK public think that the US authorities participated in a cover-up at Roswell due to the belief that the public “wasn’t ready for the truth to be revealed”.
29 per cent of those surveyed think the UK government is keeping important information relating to UFOs and aliens secret, while a third (33 per cent) believe that aliens could already be living amongst us.
Panic and fear would be the most dominant reactions (52 per cent) if aliens were proven to be visiting Earth, while fewer than one in ten (9 per cent) would feel excited and happy.
The survey of 2,000 UK adults was carried out by OnePoll during February 2021 on behalf of Blaze, ahead of UFO Week - seven days of programmes dedicated to UFOs, aliens and the extra-terrestrial. Starting today, Monday March 22, the Blaze channel will feature new TV shows exploring whether we are alone in the universe or if aliens have been visiting Earth.
Blaze TV content is available via Freeview 63, Freesat 162, Sky 164 and Virgin Media 216, as well as on smartphones and tablets via the Blaze app.
