Majorities of Americans believe the government conceals UFO knowledge
Evidence
At the same time, attitudes about UFOs contain the seeds of conspiracist thinking, for public attitudes are clearly at variance with the offi cial position that there is no credible evidence that UFOs exist. Indeed, in the 1996 Gallup Poll, when subjects were asked, “In your opinion, does the U.S. government know more about UFOs than they are telling us?” 71 percent answered yes. In the Yankelovich poll in 2000, 49 percent believed that the government was withholding information about UFOs. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 409
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Majorities of Americans hold at least some conspiratorial beliefs — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 120; More Americans believe in UFOs than accept evolution or deep Earth age. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 825; Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics. — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 48 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- More Americans believe in UFOs than accept evolution or deep Earth age.
#corroborates(0.85) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 825 - Over half of Americans now endorse at least one conspiracy theory.
#corroborates(0.85) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 14 - Twentieth-century American conspiracy theories shifted from alien out-groups to the government itself.
#exemplifies(0.80) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 75 - Fear of invisible government manipulation drives false flag conspiracy theories.
#expands(0.75) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 351 - Majorities of Americans hold at least some conspiratorial beliefs
#corroborates(0.72) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 120 - Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics.
#corroborates(0.72) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 48 - Most people hold at least one conspiratorial belief.
#corroborates(0.70) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 120