"I believe in UFOs
"Baldheaded men with goldfish bowls
"Tied securely round their waists
"Observing us from outer space."
- Screeching Weasel
"And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a stranger in a strange land.'"
- Exodus 2:22
I believe people see things they want to see. I believe that the desire to believe in something bigger than oneself is strong within us. I think that is why many people (though not all) believe in deities. And I think for a lot of people, that may account for wanting to believe in visitors from outer space coming to Earth and interacting with us.
There are many aspects of UFO and Alien Abduction lore that are functionally identical to a religious mythos surrounding a higher power. In this case, the high power is extraterrestrial. And many religions have their own mythos surrounding unidentified objects in the sky. The mythos has inspired New Religious Movements. And it has inspired artists and writers.
Do I believe in other intelligent life in the universe? Probably. It's a strong possibility. But as a Darwinian, I know evolution is not teleological (unless you're Nagel, but I still demand proof of things purportedly outside of nature). So I think it's a strong likelihood that life exists and that if it is common than perhaps intelligence has evolved elsewhere, but I caution that intelligence in the animal kingdom is a spectrum.
There are aspects of Alien Abduction lore that remind me uncomfortably of sexual abuse. I think for some people the trauma of abuse is so strong that they internalize an alternative narrative to cope. The stories of "multiple abductees" and their often brutal and sexually oriented experiences with "aliens" sound a lot like grooming a person from childhood. I don't think this explains all accounts; sleep paralysis is also a likelihood. But it concerns me that this narrative and the subculture around it maybe in the way of dealing with the trauma of abuse.
I have written about abuse in my novel "Rentkids." I deal with abuse and its effects as a social worker in child welfare. If I was to profile these purported alien abductors, I would describe them as predatory personalities, kidnappers, compulsive sexual abusers, and pedophiles/ephebophiles. The stories of the presentation of children onboard the visitors' ships also seem like a common form of gaslighting and possibly also related to sexual trauma as well.
"Rentkids" is a crime novel, a work of political satire, and a space opera, but there are no aliens. It is about human abuse. I wonder if people in the future will still believe in extraterrestrial visitors, or if the apocalyptic UFO mythos will fade when aliens (who, if they exist and are intelligent, maybe too removed from us in space or time period to make contact) fail to materialize and either invade and subjugate or solve the spiritual crises of modernity and make us less alien to each other.
We have to that ourselves, all us "aliens."
For who among us has never been a stranger in a strange land?