The anxiously awaited report to Congress from the Pentagon on what it knows about UFOs has been completed. And while the report did not drop any bombshells about proof of extraterrestrials, it did reveal that the Department of Defense overall has been taking UFOs more seriously than the public once thought.

While the report was pending, interest in UFOs and in sightings of them skyrocketed. Since it dropped, that interest continues to spike – and as it turns out, it is not a uniquely American phenomenon.

A recent Glocalities survey found that China and Russia – two countries incidentally mentioned as the possible sources of UAPs in the Pentagon report – are just as interested in UFOs as Americans. The survey reached more than 26,000 people from 24 countries and asked them about the possibility of the existence of alien life. Close to 50% of respondents said they believe in the existence of intelligent alien civilizations in the universe. A greater percentage – 61% – said they believe there is some form of life on other planets.

The differences between the countries show that Americans’ interest in UFOs is likely not insulated. Russia, Mexico, and China – all reaching at least 60% – had the highest rates of belief in intelligent life on other planets. Thirteen countries, including Canada and Italy, had higher percentages than the U.S., which came in at 45%, according to Glocalities’ research. The Netherlands (28%), Indonesia (34%), Turkey (36%), and South Africa (36%) all had the lowest rates among the countries surveyed.

“This is something that you rarely find, of course, in mainstream media,” said Martijn Lampert, research director and co-founder of Glocalites. “But in these cultures and this type of thinking, it’s a different realm. There’s a different reality, a different narrative, a different way of looking, a different paradigm, you could say, of looking at the world.”

The heightened interest in UFOs and the possibility of alien life is not just happening in the top countries listed in the Glocalities survey, experts say. Argentina – not included in the survey – has hosted a festival in recent years in its city of Capilla del Monte to honor a reported sighting there from 1986, according to The Associated Press.

“There’s certainly interest in Europe – in France, for example,” says Edward Guinan, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova University. “France is really big into UFOs. I think it’s a universal thing.”

What is the U.S. government still not telling us about what they know about UFOs and our military’s encounters with them? Please reply using the comments below!