Many think alien visitors are here

By NICK PERRY

Now that the future is here with the dawn of the 21st century, we can finally admit it - almost a third of us believe in aliens.

A Herald-DigiPoll survey of 750 people has found that 28 per cent are convinced aliens visit our world.

But the visitors are selective about whom they reveal themselves to.

Men make better alien companions than women, it seems.

Believers are also far more likely to be young, perhaps the result of years of watching The X-Files.

Almost one-third of those aged between 18 and 39 are sure of the alien stopovers, compared with just 23 per cent of people aged over 40.

Sixty-one per cent of those surveyed do not believe in alien visitations.

A further 12 per cent have yet to make up their minds. Aucklanders are more likely to believe.

A similar survey last year found 14 per cent believed in alien abductions.

Among the groups most likely to believe were supporters of New Zealand First (25 per cent) and Labour (17.3 per cent).

Two years ago, when 40 per cent of those surveyed said they believed in UFOs, the most convinced were Alliance supporters (42.9 per cent), and the least, New Zealand First voters (12.5 per cent).

The willingness to accept there is life in outer space comes as mankind probes deeper into the universe, but it can range from the statistically sane ("Chances are, there'll be some life in the rest of the universe") to the odd ("I was the subject of alien surgery").

The full range of opinion is apparent on the Web.

One of the more respectable sites is that of the Seti Project, started by Nasa 15 years ago. Instruments continually scan the heavens in search of a regular alien radio signal - so far without success.

But wackier sites offer incontrovertible "proof" of interviews with aliens, alien autopsies, coverups by authorities, cattle mutilations, crop circles and life on Mars.

One site offers a survey to measure whether you have been abducted by aliens. Questions include:

"Have x-rays or other procedures revealed unexplainable foreign objects lodged in your body?"

The truth is out there.