We don’t take sci-fi very seriously here in the USA. In truth, we do not take science very seriously. We take alien sightings even less serious than any of the above. Recently a ton of footage was released from 2014 & 2015 UFO sightings from the U.S. Navy. Turns out they’ve been seeing stuff for years and don’t know what it is. More importantly, they don’t entirely seem concerned. In the footage pilots can be heard hooting and laughing. There is no real evidence of threat. Space.com commented on a recent NYT post on the subject. They argue that UFOs are not necessarily alien, which I completely respect. Still, the argument does attest to the fact that many sightings occur when we upgrade tech. Once the tech has been in circulation for a brief period, the sightings go away. This could in fact be the presence adjusting to our heightened tech.
There are many things that these sightings could actually be. I don’t know what they are. I do know that we as a people have developed a habit of dismissal. The majority of people don’t care if there is life beyond earth or just flat out don’t believe there is. This is a short sighted view which fails to allow us to grow into the people promised by sci-fi. What happened to exploring and going boldly where no man has ever gone before?