285 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
285 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|