WHY WE WANT TO BELIEVE...

Whether they’re tiny microbes or little green men, aliens never fail to capture our imagination. So why do they have such a hold on our collective psyche?

- Sue Nelson

Out of nowhere, an incandescent light dazzles a young woman. After her eyes adjust to the brightness, they widen in fear as a small grey figure emerges…

Several weeks later, the woman is pregnant. There has been no physical conception but the pregnancy dates back to that strange event. At night, shards of memory interrupt her dreams. They are of a strange being not from this Earth.

It’s not just sci-fi fans who will recognise this scenario. One of history’s most famous stories also features an otherworldly being mysteriously impregnating a young woman. In the Bible, over 2,000 years ago, the angelic visitation resulted in the birth of Christianity. Today, there are plenty of people who view the existence of extraterrestrials not just as a matter of belief, but also akin to a religion. There’s even a scientific link between the two.

ALIENS VS RELIGION

Andrew Abeyta, assistant professor of psychology at North Dakota State University in the United States, studies the meaning of life. In 2017, he was co-author of a study called ‘We are not alone’, which found that people who believe in aliens are less likely to believe in religion.