CNN to America: Where Do You Think the Plane Is?


According to a new CNN poll, 9 percent of Americans believe “space aliens, time travelers, or beings from another dimension” are responsible for the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370.

According to a 2012 National Geographic survey, 36 percent of Americans believe that aliens have already visited Earth.

If you are one of the 27 percent of Americans who believe that aliens have visited Earth but aren’t responsible for the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370, please let me know. I’d love to pick your brain.

Bonus: The new CNN poll asks respondents where they think the plane is. Fifty-one percent of Americans believe the plane is in the Indian Ocean around where the search teams are looking, but 46 percent of Americans think it’s “somewhere else.” None of the people polled could possibly have any idea where the plane is. The question is itself ridiculous, but maybe more ridiculous is the idea that almost half of America thinks the experts are wrong. “The search teams say it’s in that one bit of the Indian Ocean, but I think it’s in Canada. Or Hawaii. Or Scotland. Or the moon. Or Benghazi. Why? I’ve just got a feeling.”

Forty-six percent of Americans are living in a world of pure imagination.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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