Alien invasion? That’s OK with most Americans

Not only do more than 80 million Americans believe that UFOs exist, many are not afraid of an alien drop-in, according to a new study.

As part of its new “Chasing UFOs” series, the National Geographic Channel conducted a poll to assess Americans’ views on the paranormal. The study found that 11% of those polled firmly believed they’d spotted a UFO.

In addition, most of those polls said they would regard a minor alien invasion as only a minor inconvenience. And most expect the visitors to be “E.T.”-type friendly, according to a news release on the study.

In spite of the recent uproar over the Miami face-chewing incident, 71% in this survey were more likely to believe in aliens than in zombies -- or vampires or superheroes, for that matter. Sorry, Green Lantern.

The study threw in a few fun questions. Among them: Which superhero would Americans be more likely call on to battle aliens (the evil kind, not E.T.)? That would be the Hulk (21%). Spider-Man got only 8% of the vote. That could bode ill for the Tuesday opening of “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

President Obama had the questionable honor of being perceived as better able to handle an alien invasion than GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney -- this was a notion held more strongly among women than men and among younger folks than older.

The “Aliens Among Us” survey was conducted with a random nationwide sample of 1,114 Americans from May 21 to 29. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9%.

“Chasing UFOs” will premiere at 9 p.m. Friday on the National Geographic Channel.

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