Americans favor Obama to defend against space aliens: poll

Nearly two in three Americans think President Barack Obama is better suited than Republican rival Mitt Romney to deal with an alien invasion, according to a survey released Wednesday.

National Geographic Channel contacted 1,114 adults across the United States last month for its fanciful opinion poll ahead of its new cable television documentary series "Chasing UFOs."

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they were certain that unidentified flying objects exist. Eleven percent were confident they had spotted a UFO, and 20 percent said they knew someone who claimed to have seen one.

With Obama facing re-election in November, 65 percent said Obama would be more adept than Romney to respond to an alien invasion, with women and younger Americans more likely than men and over-65s to agree with that prospect.

National Geographic Channel said the results of the email and online "Aliens Among Us" survey dovetailed with the research underpinning "Chasing UFOs" which premieres Friday with Texas and Colorado residents describing their encounters with mysterious flying objects.

The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percent.

(c) 2012 AFP