We look at how our current society has been influenced to believe in Aliens, despite a total lack of evidence.
belief With No Evidence
For most people, belief in aliens feels completely normal. Our current society has steadily settled on the idea that extra-terrestrials either definitely do exist, or that their existence is so likely it barely needs discussing.
And yet there is no evidence to support this belief. Everything that we base this conclusion on has come from other people telling us we should believe, because it must be true.
This article is a look at how recognised techniques of propaganda are used to make us believe in the existence of aliens.
eBook
Tracing the history of human belief in extra-terrestrial beings — from ancient gods, angels and unknown visitors from the skies, to early airship sightings and UFO culture, Hollywood, and the digital age.
- By Will Camden
- Everyday Persuasion Articles, Real World Examples, The Theory
- Reading Time 6 Minutes
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Our cultural certainty in the belief in aliens is the result of methods of external influence and persuasion we talk about on this website.
This post is not about whether aliens could exist somewhere in the universe.
It’s about how we’ve been persuaded to believe they already do, despite the total lack of any evidence.
The ideas here draw directly from our book A History of Aliens and Why We Believe, which traces how alien belief was built culturally rather than discovered scientifically.
1. Transfer: Borrowing the Authority of Science
What it does: The technique of Transfer uses the trust from a respected domain (in this case science) and attaches it to an unproven claim.
Belief in Aliens is promoted using scientific language without scientific confirmation.
“The universe is vast”
“There are billions of galaxies”
“Statistically, life must exist elsewhere”
These are true statements — but the legitimatacy of astronomy is then transferred onto a much stronger conclusion:
“Therefore, aliens are real.”
2. Appeal to Probability (Masquerading as Logic)
Technique: False inevitability
What it does: Makes a belief feel logical and unavoidable.
You’ll often hear:
“With numbers that big, it would be impossible for us to be alone.”
What you don’t hear:
Abiogenesis and the odds of life starting easily
The additional massive odds of intelligence developing
The odds of technological civilisations overlapping in the vast expanse of time
Probability is used rhetorically, not mathematically. It creates emotional certainty, not logical conclusions.
3. Testimonial: “Pilots, Scientists, and Officials Say…”
What it does: Uses respected voices to bypass critical thinking.
Alien belief leans heavily on who is speaking rather than what they’re saying.
Common examples:
“A former pilot said…”
“A retired intelligence officer claims…”
“A NASA scientist once suggested…”
These testimonials are rarely backed by observable evidence — but they don’t need to be. The authority of the speaker does the influencing.
Christopher Mellon – Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
“I’ve seen things I can’t show you”
is one of the most powerful testimonial formats ever invented.
4. Repetition Through Entertainment (Normalisation)
Technique: Normalisation
What it does: Makes extraordinary ideas feel ordinary through repetition.
By the mid-20th century, aliens were everywhere:
Films
TV shows
Comics
Pulp magazines
Cartoons
Toys
Documentaries
We didn’t just hear about aliens. We grew up with them.
When something appears constantly in fiction, the mind stops treating it as speculative.
It becomes part of the background reality — like ghosts or angels once were.
When something appears constantly in fiction, the mind stops treating it as speculative.
5. Ambiguity as Proof
Technique: Mystification
What it does: Turns uncertainty into confirmation.
Blurry photos.
Grainy videos.
Unexplained radar blips.
Government statements that say “we don’t know”.
Instead of weakening belief, ambiguity strengthens it.
Uncertainty invites imagination, and imagination fills gaps far faster than evidence.
A clear explanation ends a story. An unclear one keeps it ticking over.
Ambiguity strengthens belief
6. Conspiracy Framing: “They’re Hiding the Truth”
What it does: Makes disbelief look naïve.
Once secrecy enters the story, belief becomes self-sealing.
If there’s no evidence: It’s being suppressed
If there’s a denial: Well that’s what they would say
If a claim is debunked: This is how a cover-up works
At this point, belief no longer needs facts.
It only needs suspicion and a trusted leader to use third party persuasion to promote the belief.
You can read more about Will Camden’s work promoting the existence of Aliens – including the reasons why – in his novel Confessions of a Professional Conspiracy Theorist.
7. Myth Replacement: Aliens as Modern Angels
Technique: Cultural Substitution
What it does: Replaces old beliefs with new ones that feel more realistic and fit our current level of understanding.
As traditional religious and cultural belief in angels declined, aliens quietly took on the same mythological roles:
- Visitors from the sky
- Advanced intelligence
- Observers
- Evaluators
- Interveners
- Pre-Human
- Civilisational risk narratives
The function stayed the same. Only the costume changed.
Belief in Aliens is theology dressed up as science.
From ancient gods, angels and unknown visitors from the skies, to early airship sightings and UFO culture, Hollywood, and the digital age.
8. The Silence Reframed as Anticipation
Technique: Reversal
What it does: Attaches meaning to absence and turns it into expectation.
The universe is silent. No signals. No visitors. No artefacts.
Instead of treating this as evidence against aliens, culture has reframed it as:
“We just haven’t found them yet.”
Silence has became suspense.
Waiting has become proof that discovery is inevitable.
They must have different technology we can’t detect …. they’ll come.
Why This Matters ...
Alien belief is one of the cleanest examples of everyday persuasion in modern culture.
There are many different groups and organisations who have an interest in creating a belief in Aliens, and for those groups the techniques to use are simple and well established –
Authority
Repetition
Narrative
Emotion
Ambiguity
And human discomfort with being alone
Understanding this doesn’t make you anti-science or closed-minded. It makes you persuasion-literate.
And once you see how aliens were culturally constructed, you start spotting the same techniques everywhere — in politics, wellness culture, conspiracy movements, branding, and belief systems of all kinds.
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