Children say teachers are 'aliens' - survey

Three quarters of children believe in alien life and a third are convinced one of their teachers is an extra-terrestrial, according to a UK survey.

More than nine out of 10 16-year-olds could not name all eight planets in the solar system, according to the survey of what youngsters know about space released yesterday.

The poll of 1,000 five-to-16-year-olds also found little difference between the planetary knowledge of teenagers and younger children with 95 per cent of five-year-olds failing to name them all compared with 94 per cent of 16-year-olds.

Other findings included:

72 per cent believed aliens would be peaceful beings.

21per cent of 16-year-olds believed in aliens, compared with seven per cent who believed in Santa. Meanwhile, a quarter said they were eager to visit other planets.

Twenty-two per cent cited meeting aliens as their reason to venture into outer space.

Child psychologist and TV presenter Laverne Antrobus said: "Children have many fantasies and love to escape into a world of make-believe that they can imagine for themselves. This survey reveals that believing in aliens is far more exciting than actually thinking about where they may come from." The survey was commissioned by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment to coincide with the release of the film Aliens in the Attic on DVD.