Poll: For a Few True Believers, Elvis Lives

Supermarket tabloids promote the idea, and 25 years after what most people agree was his death, a handful of Americans still believe Elvis could be alive.

This August 16th marks the 25th anniversary of the official death of Elvis Presley, but eight percent of respondents in a recent FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll say they believe there is a chance that Elvis could be alive. Eighty-one percent of the respondents think people who believe Elvis may be alive are crazy and 11 percent are not sure whether The King may still be around or not.

"While more people believe in visitors from outer space, and the absolute percentage is small," comments Opinion Dynamics President John Gorman, "these results show that nearly 16 million American adults still believe Elvis is alive … that should keep the lines at Graceland long for many years to come."

The national poll shows little change in Elvis-believers since a similar question was asked five years ago. In August 1997, six percent of Americans said there was a possibility that Elvis is still alive while 89 percent said there was no possibility and five percent were unsure.

Polling was conducted by telephone August 6-7, 2002 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of±3 percentage points.

1. [This] week marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. There are some people who believe there is a possibility that Elvis is still alive. Do you think these people are crazy, or do you actually think there is a chance Elvis is still alive?

Compare to (6-7 Aug 97): There have been reports and rumors that Elvis Presley is still alive. Do you think there is any possibility at all that Elvis is still alive?