Overview
- Researchers from Harvard University and Reichman University questioned 6,114 highly educated, scientifically interested people, mostly in the UK, US, Spain and Canada, with an average age of about 49.
- Ninety-five percent said intelligent extraterrestrial life definitely or probably exists, while 1% said it probably or definitely does not.
- Respondents expected only about 48% of their peers would publicly share that belief, a pattern the authors dub a “cosmic closet” and describe as pluralistic ignorance.
- Participants underestimated expert acceptance, estimating 21% compared with study-cited figures indicating nearly 60% of astrobiologists endorse the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
- The findings come from a non-peer-reviewed arXiv preprint based on a non-representative sample, as public commentary also includes Dame Maggie Aderin–Pocock’s view that detection of life could arrive by 2075.