Post by Joanna on Oct 14, 2017 2:39:10 GMT -5
Americans Believe in Ghosts, Extraterrestrials, Cryptids and Other 'Beings'
With Halloween as big as it is, it should come as no surprise that Americans love their spooks and monsters. But according to a new survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted by Halloween Express, the creatures and goblins roaming the streets on Halloween night are much more than a bit of seasonal fun for many.
A new survey reveals that the most-believed-in mystery creatures are extraterrestrials, with 62 percent of people confident “they” are, indeed, “out there.” The figure is even higher in the Mountain and Southwestern States (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) where more than two-thirds say we aren’t alone. As for the skeptics, alien life isn’t real according to 30 percent of those in the Southeastern and South Central States.
The second most popular belief is that ghosts are among us, which more than half of Americans believe to be true. More than 44 percent of New Englanders (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) believe in both spirits and trouble-making poltergeists.
One in five Americans believe Bigfoot is on the prowl somewhere out there in the wilderness, with this belief spiking higher in the several Midwestern states (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota). A similar number of people believe in another primate-like cryptid – the Yeti.
As for other creatures, 18 percent believe in the Loch Ness Monster, 12 percent think the Chupacabra is real and 9 percent look to the moon, believing werewolves could be roaming about on moonlit nights.
Generally speaking, people in Southern states along the Atlantic Seaboard (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia) are the most likely to believe in the possibility of cryptid creatures. However, the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee are home to the most skeptics.
The survey also polled how political ideology correlates to beliefs in the supernatural, finding that Donald Trump supporters are more likely to believe in ghosts, Hillary Clinton supporters are more likely to believe in extraterrestrials, while those who voted for Gary Johnson are by far the most open to otherworldly creatures, with almost three quarters saying they believe.
The subject’s religion also played a big part in supernatural beliefs. Catholics, at 70%, are the most likely to believe in spirits, with 65 percent of Christians in general believing. But a belief in ghosts isn’t necessarily a “Christian thing”: 44 percent of atheists and agnostics believe, along with 55 percent of Jews and 45 percent of Buddhists. For what it’s worth, 69 percent of Buddhists believe in “ghostly mist” and display a higher rate of belief in zombies and aliens than those of other faiths.
When it comes to demons, 67 percent of Christians, including 53 percent of Catholics, believe in demons, while only 9 percent of Jews and 31 percent of Buddhists give credence to the demonic. Oddly, 21 percent of atheists and agnostics also believe in demons.
As for actual sightings of such phenomena, people in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas report more ghost sightings than anywhere else in the nation with a whopping 36 percent claiming to have seen a spirit.
The states with the most UFO and extraterrestrial sightings are Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Source: Valerie Siebert, The Daily Mail, October 12, 2017.
