Two in three Americans think there is intelligent life on other planets - CBS News poll

Most Americans think we're not alone in the cosmos — a belief that has grown over the past few years. Most of those who hold this opinion also think we will make contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life within the next hundred years. And, on the topic of UFOs, most think the U.S. government knows more than it is telling the general public.

Sixty-six percent of Americans now believe that there is intelligent life on other planets — an increase of 10 percentage points since the last time CBS News asked this question in 2017. As recently as 2010, fewer than half of Americans believed this was so. Moreover, a third of those who believe in sentient extraterrestrial life think human contact with beings from another world will occur during their lifetime (including 10% of Americans who volunteer that we already have).  Another 24% think such contact will be made within the next hundred years. Thirty-six percent think it won't happen until further into the future, while 6% think that while there is intelligent life on other planets, we will never have contact with it.