A SURVEY OF UFOLOGISTS AND THEIR BELIEFS IN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA

       

     A SURVEY OF UFOLOGISTS AND THEIR BELIEFS IN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA

      

                         by Donald A. Johnson, Ph.D.

                   P.O. Box 161, Kirkland, WA 98083-0161

                   MUFON Consultant in Research Psychology

      

           In order to learn what beliefs UFOlogists hold about 

      paranormal phenomena--particularly parapsychological phenomena--and 

      to determine whether a relationship exists between witnessing UFO 

      events and belief in psychic abilities, I conducted a small survey 

      of attendees of the 1983 MUFON Symposium, held in Pasadena, 

      California.  This report presents the results from that survey.

      

           There were three things I hoped to accomplish by conducting 

      this survey.  The first goal was mainly descriptive:  to determine 

      what pattern of beliefs exists among UFOlogists in the various 

      paranomal phenomena listed in the questionnaire.  I thought it 

      would be interesting to find out to what degree these beliefs 

      differ from those held by the general public.  The comparison data 

      was supplied by a survey of 1553 adults conducted by the Gallup 

      Poll in February 1978.  The results were reported by Jeff Sobal and 

      Charles Emmons in the Zetetic Scholar (1).

      

           The second purpose of the survey was to discover if UFO 

      witnesses differ significantly from non-witnesses in their beliefs 

      in unexplained phenomena, and especially to determine whether UFO 

      witnesses have higher rates of belief in unexplained phenomena.  

      Such a finding, if replicated, might lead to the conclusion that 

      UFO witnesses, as a group, have a lower threshold of acceptance for 

      phenomena not recognized or explained by current scientific 

      paradigms.  It could suggest that they are less skeptical and more 

      credulous than non-witnesses.  Evidence of this kind would tend to 

      cast doubt on the validity of at least some UFO eyewitness 

      testimony, because the ability of these observers to distinguish 

      inexplicable phenomena from everyday events would be called into 

      question.

      

           The third objective was to test the hypothesis that a 

      relationship exists between belief in ones own psychic abilities 

      and the witnessing of UFO phenomena.  A correspondence between 

      belief in psychic ability and witnessing UFO events has been 

      hypothesized by a number of authors, and some tentative evidence to 

      support such a relationship was presented by Benton Jamison (2) at 

      the 1976 C.U.F.O.S. Conference.  This relationship, should it 

      exist, could have a variety of causes.  It could be that greater 

      open-mindedness and perceptiveness on the part of psychic UFO 

      witnesses allows them to witness possibly paranormal aspects of the 

      UFO phenomena, it might be that psychic individuals are selected to 

      witness UFO events, or it could be that so-called "psychics" are 

      simply more gullible and more easily fooled by misperceived stimuli.

      

           The survey was designed to elicit beliefs about UFOs and other 

      unexplained phenonena.  Two hundred questionnaires were distributed 

      at the conference, and 70 completed questionnaires were returned, 

      representing a 35% response rate.  However, some of the 

      participants were allowed to take and keep an extra copy of the 

      questionnaire, so the actual participation rate may be higher.  

      Since this is a "convenience" sample and not a true probability 

      sample of UFO researchers, inferences about the generalizability of 

      the results are generally not warranted.  However, it is my opinion 

      that the answers provided by the sample probably reflect the views 

      of a sub-population of those individuals indentified as 

      "UFOlogists".  This group consists of those people with enough 

      interest in the UFO phenomenon to attend a conference, and with 

      sufficient interest in the general purposes of this survey to 

      participate.

      

           The questionnaire consisted of two brief paragraphs describing 

      the study, three questions on respondent's beliefs regarding the 

      UFO phenomenon, twelve questions on other unexplained phenomena 

      drawn from the Gallup Poll survey, four questions on belief in 

      one's own psychic abilities, and two questions on how often the 

      respondent had witnessed a UFO.  All questionnaires were completed 

      anonymously.  In addition to completing the above mentioned items, 

      participants were asked to supply information about their age, sex, 

      race, education, and marital status.

      

           A few survey participants objected to using the term "belief" 

      to define their opinions about the existence of paranormal 

      phenomena.  While I readily concede that the word is not the best 

      choice of terms because of the religious connotation associated 

      with its use, it was necessary to retain the terminology used by 

      the Gallup Poll to insure comparability with their results.  I 

      don't believe that it interfered with anyone's interpretation of 

      the meaning of the questions.

      

           Results.  Nearly two-thirds of the respondents were male, and 

      the sample was nearly equally split between married (49%) and 

      unmarried (51%) individuals.  Ninety-one percent listed their 

      racial or ethnic group as White, while 3% were Hispanic, 3% Black, 

      and 3% Asian.  Two of the Black respondents also indicated they 

      were part American Indian.  Only two of the respondents were 

      younger than thirty.  In general, survey participants tended to be 

      middle-aged and very well educated, as Table 1 shows.  Almost half 

      (46%) of the respondents had witnessed at least one UFO, and 

      one-third reported having seen UFOs on more than one occasion.

      

                                   Table 1

      

                    Age and Education of MUFON Respondents

      

           Age Category                      Percent

      

                18-29 years                       3

                30-49 years                      24

                40-49 years                      30

                50-64 years                      28

                65 years and over                15

                                                ---

                                                100%

      

           Educational level

      

                11 years or less                  0

                12 years                          8

                13-15 years                      25

                16 years                         28

                17 years or more                 39

                                                ---

                                                100%

      

           If we assume that the sample of UFOlogists is truely 

      representative of a larger population, than we can disregard for 

      the moment the inappropriateness of applying statistical tests to

      the results of a "convenience" sample.  Concerning the first goal 

      of the survey, it turns out that UFOlogists can be categorized as 

      similar to the general public in their beliefs in paranormal 

      activity, except that they are significantly less likely to believe 

      in angels, devils, and astrology, and significantly more likely to 

      believe in evidence for psychic phenomena and the existence of 

      valid cryptozoologic claims.  Table 2 presents the results of the 

      beliefs questions.

                                   Table 2

      

      Belief in UFOs and Other Unexplained Phenomena by MUFON Sample

      

                                             Percent of Respondents

                                               No      ?    Yes 

      UFOs are real rather than imaginary       1      3     96    100%

      UFOs are intelligently controlled

        devices                                 6      8     86    100%

      UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors        4     26     70    100%

      

      Do you believe in:

           Angels                              48     24     26    100%

           Devils                              59     28     13    100%

           Life After Death                    18     19     63    100%

           Loch Ness Monster                   13     46     41    100%

           Bigfoot (Sasquatch)                 10     52     38    100%

           Witches                             62     23     15    100%

           Ghosts                              38     31     31    100%

           Astrology                           63     21     16    100%

           ESP                                  9     23     68    100%

           Precognition                        11     25     64    100%

           Deja vu                             14     41     45    100%

           Clairvoyance                        16     25     58    100%

      

           In general, the Gallup Poll results reveal that the more 

      education one has the more likely one is to believe in psychic 

      abilities.  When compared to only those with college training, the 

      differences in belief in psychic phenomena become less noticeable.  

      Belief in precognition and clairvoyance are still significantly 

      more common among UFOlogists than among the college trained general 

      public, but no significant differences remain for "ESP" or "deja 

      vu".

      

           The results on whether UFOlogists who report having seen a UFO 

      differ in their beliefs from UFOlogists who have never had a UFO 

      sighting are not definitive.  On the one hand, there was a trend 

      among some who have witnessed the UFO phenomenon to be less 

      critical of other unexplained phenomenon.  However, the sample size 

      is not sufficient to make any conclusions about that trend.  The 

      data are reported in Table 3.  The data are presented in two ways:  

      with the percentage who had responded "yes" to each of the "do you 

      believe in" statements; and as an average of the numeric values of 

      the responses, with "no" coded 1, "?" coded 2, and "yes" coded 3.  

      There were 31 who reported having had at least one UFO sighting and 

      36 who reported not having had any sightings.

      

                                   Table 3

      

      Comparison of the beliefs of UFO witnesses and non-witnesses

      

                                            Witnesses     Non-witnesses

                                           % Yes  Ave.    % Yes  Ave.

      UFOs are real rather than imaginary   100   3.00      92   2.89

      UFOs are intelligently controlled

        devices                              94   2.90      78   2.69

      UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors     77   2.77      61   2.52

      

      Do you believe in:

           Angels                            43   2.17      17   1.56

           Devils                            21   1.75       8   1.42

           Life After Death                  76   2.66      51   2.29

           Loch Ness Monster                 48   2.41      36   2.19

           Bigfoot                           50   2.43      31   2.19

           Witches                           24   1.76       8   1.36

           Ghosts                            45   2.17      22   1.81

           Astrology                         21   1.66      14   1.47

           ESP                               73   2.63      64   2.56

           Precognition                      69   2.58      63   2.54

           Deja vu                           54   2.39      40   2.29

           Clairvoyance                      68   2.54      53   2.39

      

           The differences between the two groups were greatest for 

      beliefs in religious phenomena such as angels and life after death, 

      and for the "Halloween" associated phenomena of ghosts and 

      witches.  While these differences prove nothing, they do suggest 

      that the non-witnesses show more skepticism in general, which might 

      lead one to infer that they also have a higher threshold for 

      rejecting unusual phenomena they personally observe as lacking a 

      mundane explanation.  Conversely, it may also be seen as evidence 

      suggesting that at least some UFO witnesses are less skeptical and 

      more credulous that non-witnesses.  In one respect, "seeing" does 

      seem to equate with "believing":  respondents who had witnessed 

      UFOs more than once were significantly more likely to say that UFOs 

      are extraterrestrial visitors (87%) than those who had never 

      witnessed the UFO phenomenon or had witnessed it only once (59%).

      

           There were no significant differences between a belief in ones 

      own psychic abilities and whether or not one has personally 

      witnessed the UFO phenomenon.  Table 4 displays these results for 

      both witnesses and non-witnesses.  However, there were significant 

      differences for the number of UFO encounters for both belief in 

      pre-cognition ability and psychokinesis ability.  Those who 

      responded yes to the pre-cognition question reported an average of 

      2.9 UFO sightings compared to an average of one UFO sighting for 

      the remainder of the sample.  Those who felt they had an ability 

      with psychokinesis reportedly had seen UFOs an average of 3.33 

      times, compared to 1.1 times for those who said they did not have 

      the ability or weren't sure.

      

      

      

                                   Table 4

      

                 Comparison of the psychic ability beliefs of

                       UFO witnesses and non-witnesses

      

                                            Witnesses     Non-witnesses

                                           % Yes  Ave.    % Yes  Ave.

      Believe have some ability to gain

      extra-sensory perceptions (ESP) of

      thoughts and feelings of other

      people (telepathy)?                   48    2.32     53    2.25

      

      Believe have some ability to gain

      impressions of events or objects

      which are outside usual environ-

      ment (clairvoyance)?                  45    2.10     36    1.92

      

      Believe have some ability to gain

      impressions of future events

      (pre-cognition)?                      42    2.16     33    1.86

      

      Believe have some ability to

      influence the physical environment

      around you (psychokinesis or "mind

      over matter")?                        27    1.76     19    1.64

      

      

           This last finding is interesting, but it is certainly 

      preliminary and open to a wide variety of interpretations.  As I 

      mentioned previously, "psychics" may simply be more gullible and 

      more apt to misinterpret ambiguous stimuli, or it might be that 

      they are actually more perceptive and that this perceptiveness has 

      some relation to the UFO phenomenon.  Before we lend further 

      credence to this latter interpretation it would behoove us to test 

      these individuals under controlled, laboratory conditions; to 

      determine whether these abilities can indeed be proven to exist.

      

      References

      

      (1)  Sobal, Jeff and Charles F. Emmons (1982).  Patterns of belief

                in religious, psychic and other paranormal phenomena,

                Zetetic Scholar, no. 9 (March 1982), pp. 7-17.

      

      (2)  Jamison, Benton (1976).  Some proposals:  Modest, immodest,

                and maybe fundable.  In Nancy Dourbos (ed.), Proceedings

                of the 1976 CUFOS Conference.  Evanston, IL:  Center for

                UFO Studies, pp. 119-132.