The Psychology of Public Belief in Unexplained Phenomena: Close Encounters, Extraterrestrials and UFOs

This groundbreaking book explores the fascinating psychology behind public beliefs in extraterrestrial visitors and UFOs (unidentified flying objects, now often termed Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). Drawing on extensive opinion polls and academic research data from around the world, Barrie Gunter delves into the complex psychological processes that shape our interpretations of ambiguous experiences.

The analysis reveals how psychological factors profoundly influence our beliefs about extraterrestrial life. The book explores how an individual’s religious and paranormal beliefs, internalised cultural narratives, personality characteristics and cognitive biases create frameworks through which they process and recall unexplained phenomena. The book also investigates how these psychological predispositions affect responses to government secrecy, potentially fuelling conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial activity.

Neither dismissing unexplainable occurrences as bogus nor accepting them at face value, this nuanced exploration illuminates the crucial role of social and cognitive psychology in understanding why certain beliefs take hold. It fills a significant gap in current literature, offering valuable insights for students and scholars of cognitive, social and para-psychology interested in the psychological underpinnings of extraterrestrial beliefs.

Barrie Gunter is Emeritus Professor in Media at the University of Leicester. He has degrees (BSc., MSc., PhD) in psychology and worked in the broadcasting industry in audience research for 15 years before moving into the academic world as Professor of Journalism, University of Sheffield and then Professor of Mass Communications, University of Leicester. He has written 80 books and over 400 academic papers, technical reports and other publications across a range of social science disciplines, in psychology, media, marketing and consumerism, information science and political science. His latest books include: The BBC and the Public (2025, Palgrave Macmillan), The Psychology of BingeWatchingTV (2024, Routledge), ThePsychologyoftheSelfie (2022, Routledge) ChildrenandTelevisionConsumptionintheDigitalEra (2021, Routledge). He also published a series of four volumes about the psychology of the pandemic for Routledge in 2022 and 2023.