Alien invasion? That's OK with most Americans

Alien invasion? That's OK with most Americans

Not only do more than 80 million Americans believe that UFOs exist, many are not afraid of an alien drop-in, according to a new study.

As part of its new "Chasing UFOs" series, the National Geographic Channel conducted a poll to assess Americans' views on the paranormal.  The study found that 11% of those polled firmly believed they'd spotted a UFO. 

In addition, most of those polls said they would regard a minor alien invasion as only a minor inconvenience.  And most expect the visitors to be "E.T."-type friendly, according to a news release on the study.

In spite of the recent uproar over the Miami face-chewing incident, 71% in this survey were more likely to believe in aliens than in zombies -- or vampires or superheroes, for that matter.  Sorry, Green Lantern.

The study threw in a few fun questions. Among them: Which superhero would Americans be more likely call on to battle aliens (the evil kind, not E.T.)?  That would be the Hulk (21%).  Spider-Man  got only 8% of the vote.  That could bode ill for the Tuesday opening of "The Amazing Spider-Man." 

President Obama had the questionable honor of being perceived as better able to handle an alien invasion than GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney -- this was a notion held more strongly among women than men and among younger folks than older.  

The "Aliens Among Us" survey was conducted with a random nationwide sample of 1,114 Americans from May 21 to 29. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9%.

"Chasing UFOs" will premiere at 9 p.m. Friday on the National Geographic Channel.

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