As for the original story, here's the actual press release:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/ ... 040213.pdf Here's the last paragraph:
PPP surveyed 1,247 registered American voters from March 27th to 30th. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/-2.8%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
So in fact 50 people* told a recorded voice that they believed in lizard people. It seems highly likely that most of those either misunderstood the question or were simply taking the piss. The perils of extrapolation...
*it's also a spectacularly self-selecting group of respondents, ie those who don't just immediately hang up when they get an automated call and those who happen to be in when the phone goes. I don't know when they made the calls, but you won't get a representative cross-section of the population by phoning people at home during office hours.
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