Believers in UFOs, aliens and ghosts outnumber those who follow mainstream religions, a survey has found.
While 54 per cent of people believe in God, 58 per cent believe in the supernatural.
Researchers found women were more likely to believe in the supernatural than men, and were more likely to visit a medium.
Nearly a quarter of the 3,000 questioned by researchers claimed they had an encounter with the paranormal.
Some 37 per cent said aliens and ghosts were the basis of their belief system.
The study, to mark the DVD release of X Files: I Want to Believe, conflicts with another report that showed 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers .
Files released in October revealed cases of passenger jets nearly colliding with UFOs and reports of alien abduction which have been logged by the Ministry of Defence.
The 19 files, disclosed by the National Archives which date from 1986 to 1992, show the extensive records of strange sightings by members of the public and unexplained radar images from air traffic control.
In the files, the military admitted the sighting in April 1991 could not be explained, having ruled out a British or American missile.
It concluded: "In the absence of any clear evidence which could be used to identify the object, it is our intention to treat this sighting like that of any other Unidentified Flying Object."
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