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Whether we are alone in the universe is one of life's unanswered questions.

But a new poll suggests that the majority of us are convinced aliens exist, and that we're more likely to believe in little green men than God.

According to the research, children in particular are so confident in the existence of extraterrestrial beings that they think family members are aliens in disguise.

Ripley's Believe it or Not! London surveyed 2,000 adults and children. Ghosts topped the list on 55%, followed by aliens (a screengrab from 1982 film E.T is pictured) on 51%. Children believed in aliens and ghosts equally (64%), and more than quarter of the children asked said they believe some humans are aliens in disguise

The poll of 2,000 adults and children was carried out by Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in London.

Each of the participants were asked to rate how strongly they believed in five supernatural or religious beings including aliens, ghosts, UFOs, angels and God.

Ghosts topped the adult's list on 55 per cent, followed by aliens on 51 per cent and UFOs on 42 per cent.

God was at the bottom of their list of beliefs on 25 per cent, behind angels on 27 per cent.

Children believed in aliens and ghosts equally (64%), UFOs scored 50 per cent followed by God on 33 per cent. Angels were bottom of this group's list on 27 per cent. 

Natascha Crump, General Manager for Ripley's Believe It or Not! London said: 'We live in the age of science and turn to it for most of our answers, but the results show that many of us still hold belief in things that might exist outside of our world and beyond our understanding.

'It's reassuring to have the answers for many of life's questions but the average person will always be drawn to the odd, the unexpected and to the question 'what if?'.

'According to the results it's clearly not just children who have an open mind when it comes to other life forms and keeping an open mind.'

The poll also found that more than a quarter of children (26 per cent) believe that aliens are disguised as humans - and one in twenty think their mother is an extra-terrestrial, although the most likely suspect is their brother.

Almost half of the children admitted they think there is a stereotype associated with aliens with 43 per cent of children claiming aliens are most likely to be green.

God was at the bottom of the adult's list of beliefs 25%, behind angels on 27%. Meanwhile, children were more likely to believe in God (33%) than angels (27%). UFOs (illustrated right) came third on both the adult and children's lists on 45% and 50% respectively

Adults were found to be more superstitious than children, with 26 per cent of them swearing by touching wood so as not to tempt fate, and refusing to ever walk underneath a ladder. Almost 15 per cent of adults said they were more scared of spiders (pictured), big dogs and heights than their children

But it's not just children that have their suspicions – a third of adults polled said they have had a strange feeling about a certain building they have entered.

One in five also admitted they have experienced a supernatural presence in their own home.

Adults were found to be more superstitious than children, too, with 26 per cent of them swearing by touching wood so as not to tempt fate, and refusing to ever walk underneath a ladder.

Almost 15 per cent of adults said they were more scared of ghosts than their children, and over half (53 per cent) said they try to hide their fear of things to prevent their children from feeling scared.

This mainly referred to being scared of spiders (47 per cent) as well as big dogs (24 per cent), heights (23 per cent) and flying (13 per cent).