The problem is UFO's butt into religion. They overlap with the paranormal. As John Keel has shown strange phenomena go back for thousands of years. For instance would the Catholic adherents of Our Lady of Fatima's visitation be open to the fact that this might just be another iteration of ET. Until we remove this roadblock carefully and intelligently, as our knowledge of physics and science advance, many because of their religious myths and beliefs, will continue to keep critical doors on knowledge closed. After all we're human and we all die and we need this belief system based on mythology to handle this fact. Very few have come back to tell the tale!

In my mind there are two hypotheses - they come from other planets who've successfully navigated technology without wiping themselves out. They come from other dimensions and have something to do with human consciousness and how we observe them. Both are not mutually exclusive.

Given the hot mess we're in down here with the effects of climate change, capitalism run amok, looming dangerous Manchurian's like Trump and his buddy Putin, not surprising this all takes a back seat. If one can't eat and find shelter you can't explore critically important ideas like this! However hopefully our philosophers and scientists will continue to lead the way as you state so well. Bah humbug to the naysayers.