(Wyoming) – Do you believe we’re alone in the universe? According to a Pew Research poll, 65% of Americans surveyed believe that intelligent life exists on other planets. 46% of those surveyed said they think that UFO’s are a real threat to United States national security.
So naturally, County 10 took it upon ourselves to wonder what would happen in an alien invasion. (*Cue social media commenters asking, “Slow news day!?”*)
Website, GigACalculator crunched quite a few different numbers recently to rank how they think each state would survive a potential space alien attack. Methodology factoring into the rankings include; population, existing UFO data, landscape data, military, defense and science personnel and engineering and medical professionals.
Their findings provide a bleak assessment for the Cowboy State. Much to our surprise, we’re only the 39th-best place so survive an attack based on their data. Low population, lack of safe hiding spots and a low number of scientists and engineers per capita seems to have hurt us. County 10 staff beg to differ on how Wyoming’s tough residents would handle such an attack – but we’ll save that for another day.
To view full the full breakdown of each state and how we fared in each category, click here.
Some of the national findings of note from GigACalculator include;
Virginia has the highest chances of survival, with a score of 8.06 out of 10. The state has the third most military members with 17 per 1k population, it is also the ninth most forest-covered state, with 0.63% of the state hidden by forest to take shelter.
Virginia is known as the “Mother of Presidents” with 8 U.S. presidents born here, providing potential insider knowledge of extraterrestrial life in the event of an invasion.
In second place with 7.91 out of 10 is the state of Alabama. Known for its varied geography, from Appalachian foothills and mountains to beaches and valleys, and great hiding spots with its 35 caves, 0.71% of the area covered by forest and 0.03% covered by water.
Massachusetts sits in third place with a 7.81 out of 10 chance of survival. The state is home to some of the brightest minds in America with Harvard, and MIT students filling the streets, so it is no surprise that the state employs 72,590 scientists (10 per 1k people).
0.26% of the state is covered by water, the fourth highest in the US making it a perfect place to top up on hydration or escape in hopes that aliens can’t swim. The state is armed with the third most law enforcement employees per 1k people at 3. Massachusetts also has the second most number of healthcare professionals per 1k people with 35, only just beaten by South Dakota with 38.
Nevada is the least likely to survive an invasion, scoring just 5.28 out of 10. The vibrant entertainment of Vegas offers little protection, with 75% of its land classified as desert, the state offers various climates but its popular city Las Vegas has a subtropical hot desert climate which many would struggle to survive if hit with an invasion.
Following Nevada for the least likely to survive an alien attack is Idaho with 5.71, Arizona with 5.77 and Nebraska scoring 6.11.