Dennis Kucinich was in the news this week when a close encounter he had with an extraterrestrial UFO (unidentified flying object) at the Washington State home of Shirley MacLaine in the 80s was cited by the vehemently anti-Kucinich Cleveland Plain Dealer from her new book, "Sage-ing While Age-ing". As MacLaine writes, Kucinich was drawn by the scent of roses to her balcony and “saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent, and observing him. It hovered, soundless, for about ten minutes or so, and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."

Anti-Kucinich bloggers fell all over each other to be first in line to ridicule him. Dennis Kucinich of the big ears and the short stature, the presidential long-shot lefty vegan peace candidate whose political positions most closely correlate with the average American voter’s, was immediately mocked for: 1) his long-time close friendship with Shirley MacLaine, who has garnered a reputation in certain circles as a spiritual crackpot, and 2) believing that he actually communicated with an extraterrestrial UFO. He was even accused of being an ET himself.

If the anecdote in MacLaine’s book is true, how unusual is it that Dennis Kucinich claimed to have seen a UFO, and does that mean he’s some kind of wacko? Not at all. President Jimmy Carter, Governor Ronald Reagan, Senator Barry Goldwater, as well as astronauts such as James McDivitt and Gordon Cooper, have all reported seeing UFOs, as have millions of ordinary people. In fact, a 1990 Gallup poll found that about 14% of Americans believe they’ve seen UFOs.

UFOs captured the popular imagination centuries before they were labeled “flying saucers” and later “Unidentified Flying Objects” in the 1940s. There have been countless reported UFO sightings across the globe and throughout history, many of them unexplained to this day.

In 1980, 24% of amateur astronomers responding to a survey given by the Center for UFO Studies responded that they had observed objects in the sky that they could absolutely not identify.

A 1996 Gallup poll indicated that 71% of Americans believed there was a government cover-up of UFOs. In 2002, a Roper poll done for the Sci Fi channel had a similar result, but more of the respondents thought that UFOs were actually extraterrestrial and 48% thought extraterrestrials had already visited the planet.

In 2005, a telephone survey commissioned by the National Geographic Channel of 1,000 Americans found that 60% believed that life exists on other planets. Ninety percent of those Americans said Earth should respond to messages from another planet, and two-thirds of those who did not believe in extraterrestrials agreed with that. Eight out of ten thought it likely that aliens from other planets are more advanced than humans.

Belief or non-belief in alien life has little to do with one’s political affiliation, although slightly more Democrats than Republicans believe in UFOs, but it is somewhat related to one’s religious beliefs. According to a 2005 Harris poll, about 46% of religious people tend to believe in extraterrestrial life forms, while 70% of non-religious people do.

And finally, a 2006 survey found that almost one-quarter of those polled believed that some UFOs are spaceships from other worlds. In the Harris poll cited above, 34% said they believe in UFOs. Interestingly, more men (38%) than women (31%) hold this belief.

The U.S. government continues to pour billions into the NASA program and send astronauts and space vehicles into outer space to investigate whatever or whoever is out there, yet the 22-year Air Force investigation into UFOs that enter our air space ended almost 40 years ago. The official explanation is that UFOs are not considered a threat to national security and are not of scientific interest. However, it’s unlikely that the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI Institute), the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and other groups consisting of astronomers, pilots, physicists, and ordinary citizens who continue their research into UFOs agree with that assessment.

What’s more probable? The notion that intelligent, curious real-life beings from other galaxies have been visiting our earth in spaceships to learn more about us and maybe even assist us? Or that invisible, supernatural beings are planning to strip naked certain chosen Christians and suck them up to “Heaven” without benefit of spaceship in a highly improbable Biblical scenario called the Rapture? Curiously, more Americans have an easier time believing in ghosts, angels, the devil, the Virgin Birth, and the resurrection of Christ than in the existence of UFOs. Our current president claims that God talks to him on a regular basis and believes he got a thumbs up from Him about running for President and invading Iraq.

There are a lot of UFO hoaxers out there, as well as people with serious psychological issues, who have muddied the UFO waters. But that still leaves a legion of trustworthy people like Dennis Kucinich who believe they've seen extraterrestrial UFOs, or at least believe in the possibility that they exist. It’s no laughing matter.

Read "UFOs Are No Joke" (11/13/07 AFP News Story):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071113/ts_afp/usspaceufo;_ylt=AjDFAvg85LMoMMwsJC6NV4es0NUE