Isn't the whole "existence of aliens" question functionally religious? If you believe in God as an origin of life, we are the only intelligent life in the universe. If you believe in abiogenesis, we aren't. Obviously that's a big generalization and there's lots of room for fun sci-fi speculation, but that's kind of the big turning point, no?
As for explaining UFO's/UAP's as aliens, that seems to be the least likely explanation, but shutting down all talk of UFO's/UAP's because of the association of the terms with aliens/"I want to believe" people is silly. There's plenty of room for conversation both valuable (what terrestrial technology and motives could be behind these?) and just fun and enjoyable (wild speculation about technology and motives).
I love scifi, this strikes me as a community filled with people who love scifi, I am excited about secrets and technology and a future filled with continued technological advancement. I'll never stop enjoying this type of speculation.
As for explaining UFO's/UAP's as aliens, that seems to be the least likely explanation, but shutting down all talk of UFO's/UAP's because of the association of the terms with aliens/"I want to believe" people is silly. There's plenty of room for conversation both valuable (what terrestrial technology and motives could be behind these?) and just fun and enjoyable (wild speculation about technology and motives).
I love scifi, this strikes me as a community filled with people who love scifi, I am excited about secrets and technology and a future filled with continued technological advancement. I'll never stop enjoying this type of speculation.