Majorities of Americans believe in ghosts, aliens, the devil: Survey

Majorities of Americans believe in aliens, ghosts and the devil, according to a recent RealClear Opinion Research poll.

Among those surveyed, 56.9 percent said they believe in aliens, 61.4 percent believe in ghosts, and 70.3 percent say they believe in the devil, which is lower than the 85.4 percent who say they believe in God.

Other findings in the poll include 80.3 percent of respondents saying that they believe “Jesus is God or the Son of God” and 84.7 percent saying they believe in Heaven.

Another 83 percent say the believe in miracles, though majorities reject the existence of witches and reincarnation. Some 52.3 percent say they don't believe in reincarnation, and 54.2 percent say the same about witches.

More than 70 percent of Americans believe in hell.

“Self-reported belief in God is highest in the South, at 89%, followed by the Midwest (85%), Northeast (83%), and West (81%),” said RealClear's Spencer Kimball.

The high belief in spiritual topics appears to be in line with a recent survey from the Pew Research Center in which 7 out of 10 adults said they were “spiritual in some way.”

In the new RealClear poll, respondents were also asked, "If there is a God, do you think of God as male or female or neither?" Precisely half said male, 14.1 percent said female, 27.5 percent responded "something else" and 8.4 percent said they do not believe in God.

The RealClear survey was conducted between Dec. 19 and 21, featuring responses from 1,000 U.S. residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.