Belief in Aliens is up… WAY UP!… Why?

I wonder, wonder why…

Rh negative people are starseeds?

Fifty-one percent of Americans believe UFOs reported by military personnel are likely evidence of intelligent alien life, according to a new poll released by Pew last week.

Why it matters: Questions about whether smart aliens have come to visit Earth have been asked for decades, and these results show that curiosity — which can sometimes verge into conspiracy theory — persists.

What they found: The new poll surveyed 10,417 U.S. adults in June ahead of the release of a UFO report mandated by Congress and made public at the end of June.

• About 65% of respondents said they think there is intelligent alien life on planets other than Earth, and about 87% said UFOs aren’t a security threat to the U.S. at all or only represent a minor one, Pew found.
• According to the poll, only 12% of American adults had heard or read a lot about the UFO report before its release.
• “Some segments of the public are more likely than others to believe that intelligent life exists on other planets,” Pew wrote in a release. “This view is especially pronounced among younger Americans. About three-quarters (76%) of adults under age 30 say intelligent life exists on other planets, versus 57% of those 50 and older.”

The bottom line: In all likelihood, evidence of alien life won’t come in the form of a grainy video taken high above an ocean, but will instead be the discovery of tiny, fossilized microbes on Mars, or some other little creature swimming through an ocean engulfing a distant moon.

(Source: 65% of Americans believe in aliens, new poll finds)

My main question to anyone developing a new belief is usually in regards to what significantly changed or happened in their lives shortly before that.

In 1957, with Flying Saucers to appear the following year, New Republic editor Gilbert A. Harrison wanted to get this Jungian perspective on UFOs in his magazine.

the problem of the Ufos is, as you rightly say, a very fascinating one, but it is as puzzling as it is fascinating; since, in spite of all observations I know of, there is no certainty about their very nature. On the other side, there is an overwhelming material pointing to their legendary or mythological aspect. As a matter of fact the psychological aspect is so impressive, that one almost must regret that the Ufos seem to be real after all. I have followed up the literature as much as possible and it looks to me as if something were seen and even confirmed by radar, but nobody knows exactly what is seen. In consideration of the psychological aspect of the phenomenon I have written a booklet about it, which is soon to appear. It is also in the process of being translated into English. Unfortunately being occupied with other tasks I am unable to meet your proposition. Being rather old, I have to economize my energies.

Carl Jung’s Fascinating 1957 Letter on UFOs

HOWEVER:

“In the threatening situation of the world today, when people are beginning to see that everything is at stake, the projection-creating fantasy soars beyond the realm of earthly organizations and powers into the heavens, into interstellar space, where the rulers of human fate, the gods, once had their abode in the planets…. Even people who would never have thought that a religious problem could be a serious matter that concerned them personally are beginning to ask themselves fundamental questions. Under these circumstances it would not be at all surprising if those sections of the community who ask themselves nothing were visited by `visions,’ by a widespread myth seriously believed in by some and rejected as absurd by others.”–C. G. Jung, in Flying Saucers

With his essay Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies (1958), Carl Gustav Jung can be seen as one of the founding fathers of the PSH. Some also say that because of his use of the concept of synchronicity in this book, he is also one of the founding fathers of paranormal explanations of the UFO phenomena. ETH advocates sometimes say that while Jung approached UFOs psychologically because he was a psychologist, he was also on record as stating that some might be true physical objects under intelligent control, citing in particular radar corroboration. They say Jung truly seriously considered the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis. The Associated Press quoted him in 1958 saying, “a purely psychological explanation is ruled out.” The flying saucers were real and “show signs of intelligent guidance and quasi-human pilots. I can only say for certain that these things are not a mere rumor, something has been seen. …If the extraterrestrial origin of these phenomena should be confirmed, this would prove the existence of an intelligent interplanetary relationship. … That the construction of these machines proves a scientific technique immensely superior to ours cannot be disputed.” Disciples of Jung have offered thoughtful rebuttals.

Flying Saucers, Aliens, UFOs and Carl Gustav Jung

Jung risibly complained about that 1958 newspaper piece for making him look like someone who believed UFOs were physically real. “This report is altogether false.” Jung was completely uncommitted on the issue of whether they were real or unreal. He tried to set the record straight. “I was quoted as a saucer believer. I issued a statement to the United Press and gave a true version of my opinion, but this time the wire went dead: nobody, so far as I know, took any notice of it, except one German newspaper… one must draw the conclusion that news affirming the existence of Ufos is welcome, but that skepticism seems to be undesirable. To believe that Ufos are real suits the general opinion, whereas disbelief is to be discouraged… This remarkable fact in itself surely merits the psychologist’s interest.”

Jung risibly complained about that 1958 newspaper piece for making him look like someone who believed UFOs were physically real. “This report is altogether false.” Jung was completely uncommitted on the issue of whether they were real or unreal. He tried to set the record straight. “I was quoted as a saucer believer. I issued a statement to the United Press and gave a true version of my opinion, but this time the wire went dead: nobody, so far as I know, took any notice of it, except one German newspaper… one must draw the conclusion that news affirming the existence of Ufos is welcome, but that skepticism seems to be undesirable. To believe that Ufos are real suits the general opinion, whereas disbelief is to be discouraged… This remarkable fact in itself surely merits the psychologist’s interest.”