Almost one in two Russians believe extraterrestrials could be on Earth and camouflaged, hiding in the general population, according to a nationwide survey published by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), TASS reported on September 22.

VTsIOM said the belief in life on other planets is widely accepted in Russia. “Eight out of ten respondents tend to accept the existence of other intelligent beings in the universe, and nearly half assume that aliens visit Earth and hide among humans. Older generations are more likely to endorse the ‘presence among us’ scenario, while young people are more sceptical,” the poll results said.

The pollster also found that curiosity would outweigh fear, if a Russian actually met an alien, the respondents said. If the existence of extraterrestrial civilisations were verified, 77% of respondents said they would find the news interesting, while 30% would find it alarming.

The pollsters said expectations of alien behaviour skew towards caution and observation. “If we imagine a scenario in which aliens arrive on Earth, most Russians would expect them to be cautious and curious. People assume that visitors from space would first observe life on the planet and study the daily routines and behaviour of humans… At the same time, a significant portion of respondents consider a positive scenario through dialogue and cooperation,” the pollsters said.

The survey found that few Russians believe contact with aliens would end in hostilities and only 10% of Russians are worried about an alien invasion, according to the poll results.

“In general, different models of contact coexist in society. However, for obvious reasons, Earthlings (at least Russians) want the intentions of aliens to be neutral and exploratory if contact is to happen,” the report added.

In a similar survey conducted last year one in ten Russians said they would believe Russian President Vladimir Putin if he announced aliens had been discovered on earth, a survey conducted by Rambler&Co.

"One in ten Russians would believe that a UFO [had] visited if the head of state talked about it; 6% would believe it if reported by official media, and 3% would trust their friends," the study says.

The survey also found that nearly half of the respondents (49%) would only believe if they saw them with their own eyes, 20% would trust research conducted by renowned scientists, and 12% would be convinced by video evidence.

Belief in intelligent life on other planets is significantly more prevalent among Russians. According to the survey, 33% of participants are firmly convinced of the existence of aliens, while an additional 27% have a keen interest in the topic. Additionally, 10% of respondents believe that authorities are hiding information about UFOs, while 9% are certain that aliens are already present among us on Earth. 21% categorically deny the existence of any extra-terrestrial life.