In the end though, I could never convince myself that there was any "there, there". Most of my life I've maintained a very skeptical stance towards any suggestions of UFO's as any sort of visiting non-human intelligence, as well as "ancient aliens", secret government time-travel projects, ghosts, demons, spirits, sasquatch, the abominable snowman, chupacabra, the "Beast of Bladenboro"[1] as anything more than a (possibly rabid) (wolf|bobcat|panther)or something, and so on.
Today? I try to keep an open mind, simply as a matter of principle. And there probably are "more things in heaven and Earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy, mindcrime."
But no matter how many pictures or videos get released about UFO's, or what these so-called "insiders" claim, I still can't get past thinking that basically all UAP / UFO sightings ultimately fall into one or the other of about two categories:
1. Completely prosaic things like mistaking a weather balloon or star for something else, sensor glitches, weather phenomenon, drug induced hallucinations, outright hoaxes, etc.
2. Experimental aircraft (or something along those lines) built by the military/industrial complex of the US, Russia, China, etc.
That said, part of me wants to be proven wrong. I'd love a world with a bit more mystery and awe in it, and if somebody could prove to me that UFO/UAP phenomena are something more interesting, I'd be thrilled (and possibly also scared, but whatever). I mean, to this day I keep one of those Mulder "I Want to Believe" posters[2] around. But to believe, I still need evidence. I guess I'm too much of a skeptic at heart.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_Bladenboro
[2]: https://img.atlasobscura.com/F_laK2txhu_jVpOYrk_2bhnmlveocEl...
