Expanding on my above comment about media reporting consider the following the statements. These statements are used to illustrate my point and are not from news articles.
"97% of the population believe in UFOs*"
"In a recent survey 97% of respondents said they believe in UFOs"
"According to the survey carried out by
Dr. John Smith 97% of respondents said they believed in UFOs." The survey details the methodology used and how the conclusion was reached. The paper details the survey of 1000 people was carried out in front of the UFO Convention of 2015.
All of these reports are "correct", but the inference made is completely different. I am suggesting most people aren't interested in details, just headlines to talk about something over breakfast.
*I use the term UFO in its "aliens are among us" usage, not the literal meaning of the term.