An artist's version of alien life

Synovate director Scott Lee said the recent successful Chinese space mission inspired the firm to explore Asian perceptions of space, resulting in some out of this world findings on people‘s attitudes, space travel desires and extraterrestrial experiences.

The survey covered 5,500 respondents in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Korea.

“Asians are clearly convinced that we are not alone in our universe, with more than six out of 10 people (64 percent) surveyed across all countries believing that intelligent life exists on planets other than earth,“ Lee said.

“Personal extraterrestrial experiences are also far more common than expected with 10 percent of Asians believing that they have seen a UFO and a further three percent believing that they have had an encounter with aliens from another planet.

“When applied across the enormous populations of the countries surveyed, that is over 250 million UFO sightings and more than 80 million alien encounters,“ added Lee.

Chinese (81 percent) and Hong Kong residents (70 percent) are the most likely to believe in intelligent life outside of earth while UFO sightings are more common in India (13 percent), Korea (10 percent) and China (9 percent).

Visitors from other worlds land more often in Indonesia, where six percent of respondents believe they have had an encounter with aliens from another planet, and Korea, where eight percent of residents aged 50 to 64 reported making contact with alien counterparts.

Although many Asians believe that life exists on other planets, they are not so keen to go exploring these unknown worlds themselves just yet.

Sixty-one percent of respondents across Asia said they would not want to travel to outer space if given the option.

The Chinese (76 percent) and Indonesians (71 percent) are the least adventurous populations when it comes to space travel.

Indians are the only people who appear keen to explore their astral surroundings, with 60 percent saying they would like to travel to outer space one day.

“Indian Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, a crew member aboard the ill-fated Columbia Space Shuttle Mission, is a national hero and admired by Indians everywhere for the dedication she showed in following her dream of traveling to space,“ said Alok Shanker, managing director of Synovate India.

“Her memory and commitment have helped inspire many Indians to also dream of one day exploring the stars,“ Shanker added.

Synovate Indonesia Managing Director Robby Susatyo said the high rate of alien experiences in Indonesia may be connected to their culture‘s firm belief in ghosts.

“Indonesians, like many Asians, hold a strong belief in the existence of ghosts,“ he said.

“It may well be that people believe their experiences with ghosts are similar to aliens, while many are also of the opinion that all creatures from another world are really siblings anyway.“

Despite a relatively low regional enthusiasm for personal space travel, 64 percent of Asians are certain that space tourism will become a big industry in the future with the Chinese (72 percent) and Koreans (69 percent) the most convinced.

“However, Hong Kong residents are the most likely contenders for any fledgling space tour with 76 percent very willing to pay US$20 million (C$23 million) to travel to the moon if they had the money.“

Koreans are the least enthusiastic about having a space travelling child with only 19 percent supportive of such a career and 61 percent firmly against their children becoming astronauts.

Regardless of space travel plans, parental ambitions or personal experience, it is clear that people in Asia remain fascinated with space and the great unknown of our universe.

“We may be no closer to proving the existence or otherwise of aliens and UFOs,“ he said.

“But with 62 percent of Asians agreeing that man walking on the moon was one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, space travel and the possibility of extraterrestrial life clearly continue to capture people‘s imaginations right around the world.“ results released by global market research company Synovate.

Synovate director Scott Lee said the recent successful Chinese space mission inspired the firm to explore Asian perceptions of space, resulting in some out-of-this-world findings on people‘s attitudes, space travel desires and extraterrestrial experiences.

The survey covered 5,500 respondents in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Korea.

“Asians are clearly convinced that we are not alone in our universe, with more than six out of 10 people (64 percent) surveyed across all countries believing that intelligent life exists on planets other than earth,“ Lee said.

“Personal extraterrestrial experiences are also far more common than expected with 10 percent of Asians believing that they have seen a UFO and a further three percent believing that they have had an encounter with aliens from another planet.

“When applied across the enormous populations of the countries surveyed, that is over 250 million UFO sightings and more than 80 million alien encounters,“ added Lee.

Chinese (81 percent) and Hong Kong residents (70 percent) are the most likely to believe in intelligent life outside of earth while UFO sightings are more common in India (13 percent), Korea (10 percent) and China (9 percent).

Visitors from other worlds land more often in Indonesia, where six percent of respondents believe they have had an encounter with aliens from another planet, and Korea, where eight percent of residents aged 50 to 64 reported making contact with alien counterparts.

Although many Asians believe that life exists on other planets, they are not so keen to go exploring these unknown worlds themselves just yet.

Sixty-one percent of respondents across Asia said they would not want to travel to outer space if given the option.

The Chinese (76 percent) and Indonesians (71 percent) are the least adventurous populations when it comes to space travel.

Indians are the only people who appear keen to explore their astral surroundings, with 60 percent saying they would like to travel to outer space one day.

“Indian Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, a crew member aboard the ill-fated Columbia Space Shuttle Mission, is a national hero and admired by Indians everywhere for the dedication she showed in following her dream of traveling to space,“ said Alok Shanker, managing director of Synovate India.

“Her memory and commitment have helped inspire many Indians to also dream of one day exploring the stars,“ Shanker added.

Synovate Indonesia Managing Director Robby Susatyo said the high rate of alien experiences in Indonesia may be connected to their culture‘s firm belief in ghosts.

“Indonesians, like many Asians, hold a strong belief in the existence of ghosts,“ he said.

“It may well be that people believe their experiences with ghosts are similar to aliens, while many are also of the opinion that all creatures from another world are really siblings anyway.“

Despite a relatively low regional enthusiasm for personal space travel, 64 percent of Asians are certain that space tourism will become a big industry in the future with the Chinese (72 percent) and Koreans (69 percent) the most convinced.

“However, Hong Kong residents are the most likely contenders for any fledgling space tour with 76 percent very willing to pay US$20 million (C$23 million) to travel to the moon if they had the money.“

Koreans are the least enthusiastic about having a space travelling child with only 19 percent supportive of such a career and 61 percent firmly against their children becoming astronauts.

Regardless of space travel plans, parental ambitions or personal experience, it is clear that people in Asia remain fascinated with space and the great unknown of our universe.

“We may be no closer to proving the existence or otherwise of aliens and UFOs,“ he said

“But with 62 percent of Asians agreeing that man walking on the moon was one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, space travel and the possibility of extraterrestrial life clearly continue to capture people‘s imaginations right around the world.“

A significant number of Indians (38 percent) and Chinese (35 percent) were also prepared to spend a substantial sum for a lunar landing, while practical Indonesians (21 percent) and Koreans (20 percent) believe such spending to be flights of fancy.

Lee said the willingness to spend large amounts on space travel reflected the general spending characteristics of these populations.

“Hong Kong residents, renowned as status-conscious consumers, would view a US$20 million trip to the moon as a very exclusive holiday indeed,“ he said.

“Koreans on the other hand are far more practical and realistic when it comes to their spending and so are more likely to reject such extravagance.”

While children in the region, motivated by Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, may harbour dreams of one day having a career in space, their parents have alternative plans with only 42 percent of Asians regionally wanting their children to become an astronaut.

Residents in Hong Kong (61 percent) and India (56 percent) are far more likely to want their children to become astronauts compared to people in China (34 percent). Koreans are the least enthusiastic about having a space traveling child with only 19 percent supportive of such a career and 61 percent firmly against their children becoming astronauts.

Lee said that regardless of space travel plans, parental ambitions or personal experience, it is clear that people in Asia remain fascinated with space and the great unknown of our universe.