CBS Poll: 84 Percent Say U.S. Government Withholds UFO Data, Most Report No Sightings

U.S. government knows more about UFOs than it has disclosed to the public. Sixteen percent said the federal government has told the public everything it knows on the subject.

8 percentage points. Less than 20 percent of respondents said they have seen what they thought was a UFO, while 83 percent said they had not. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they believe intelligent life exists on other planets, an increase from the less than half who held that view in 2010, according to CBS News.

More than 20 percent said humanity has already made contact with such life. Forty-six percent said future contact with extraterrestrial intelligence is likely, while one-third said it will never occur. The Pentagon released two batches of UFO files last month.

The first batch appeared on May 8, 2026, and the second on May 22, 2026. gov/UFO, contain archival photographs, military video, and reports of unusual aerial sightings. Lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill have called for further transparency from the Trump administration on the matter.

U.S. government is aware of “several” kinds of extraterrestrial life. Grusch added that the topics under discussion extend beyond the existence of life in the universe and include national-security threats posed by UFOs.