Today is Halloween, a day when little kids pretend to be ghosts and goblins, so I thought it would be interesting to see how many Americans actually believe in ghosts, goblins, spells and superstitions. The answer surprised me.
According to a poll conducted by the Associated Press and Ipsos, 34% of our fellow Americans believe in ghosts. Ironically, this is the exact same percentage that say they believe in UFOs. Hmmm.
According to the survey, 23% believe they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost. Decidedly fewer of the UFO believers claim experiential evidence of their belief; Only 14% claim to have actually seen a UFO.
That 14% includes Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. I realize that for most of us, this news doesn't come as a surprise. I promise I am not making this up. Don't believe me? Read all about it in the Ohio Congressman's hometown paper, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer here.
You know, we already knew Kucinich was "out there" but who could have imagined in their wildest imagination that he would not only claim that he saw a UFO (at SHIRLEY MACLAINE'S HOUSE, no less), but that he felt it was "observing him," he "felt a connection in his heart" with the craft and also "heard directions in his mind." I presume the "directions" told him to run for President.
SFX Music - "Twilight Zone" Theme: Do-do-do-do, Do-do-do-do...
Not surprisingly, when he was questioned about it in last night's debate, Kucinich tried to distance himself from the specifics of Shirley MacLaine's comments in her upcoming book about his close encounter of the weird kind. He reasoned that "unidentified" only meant that he could not ascertain exactly what kind of flying machine it was, and reminded the audience that former President Jimmy Carter once reported a UFO sighting. Kucinich completely ignored the part of the story about him receiving directions from the spacecraft.
Needless to say, he came across as a nutcase, and provided a great straight line and perfect set up for Barack Obama, who said he was more concerned with folks here on earth than out there somewhere. Watch it for yourself here.
For the record, Jimmy Carter does not now believe his 1969 sighting was an extraterrestrial craft. In fact, it has been proved to Carter's satisfaction that what he saw was actually the planet Venus.
It would be interesting to know how many of the 23% who think they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost are also in the 14% of those who think they have seen a UFO. Then find out how many of those also believe the moon landing was faked and 911 was an inside job and BINGO... you have identified the wacko fringe in America!
How large is the wacko fringe? I would estimate about 3%, which is the same percentage of Americans who believe they have been abducted by aliens. And now they even have their own Presidential candidate.
How nice.
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