Americans love conspiracy theories, and a new poll shows how far-fetched some of these beliefs are. About 13 percent of Americans believe Obama is the anti-Christ, nearly 30 percent believe in aliens and four percent believe lizard people control the US.
After surveying 1,247 registered American voters about their beliefs regarding 20 of the most famous conspiracy theories, Public Policy Polling found that a surprisingly high number of Americans believe in the existence of Bigfoot, “lizard people” and “ mind-controlling technology – while some just seem uninformed about the current affairs.
51 percent of Americans believe in global warming, while 37 percent said the whole idea is a hoax. This margin was particularly high among Republicans, of which 58 percent said climate change is a made-up phenomenon.
The responses also show Americans’ lack of faith in their government: nine percent of voters said they believe the feds add fluoride to US drinking water for ‘sinister’ reasons, 13 percent believe Obama is the embodiment of the anti-Christ, 14 percent said the CIA was responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic during the 1980s, and four percent believe “lizard people” control the US and are trying to take over the country.
Those who believe in ‘lizard people’ are convinced that evil reptilians are hiding among humans, living in the shadows and trying to take over the US. Some even believe that President Obama is secretly a ‘lizard person’. According to the conspiracy theory, these reptiles lived peacefully alongside humans until the end of the 12thcentury BC, after which they engaged in a war against the humans that tried to destroy them. They have allegedly been seeking revenge ever since.
Americans have equally little faith in world leaders: 28 percent of voters said they believe in a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda trying to take over the world and create a ‘New World Order’. Those who voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election were more likely to hold this belief.
Survey results also show that 21 percent of Americans believe the US government covered up the mysterious Roswell UFO incident, in which a spacecraft allegedly crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The UFO supposedly contained the bodies of aliens, but the US Armed Forces claims the debris was nothing more than debris from an experimental surveillance balloon.
Some also believe that Osama bin Laden is still alive, with six percent of Americans claiming the al-Qaeda terrorist leader’s death was a hoax. Twenty-eight percent of voters say that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks.
In surveying its subjects, the pollsters asked about each of the respondents’ political affiliations and voting history to determine how their answers differed. Romney-voters were less likely to believe in global warming and Republicans were more likely to believe that Obama is the anti-Christ. Meanwhile, Democrats were more likely to believe (72 percent) that former President George Bush intentionally lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. But when it comes to theories as far-fetched as the existence of human-like animals, political leanings had little influence.
“Even crazy conspiracy theories are subject to partisan polarization, especially when there are political overtones involved,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But most Americans reject the wackier ideas out there about fake moon landings and shape-shifting lizards.”