Beliefs in "UFOs" as physical extraterrestrial spacecraft are no
different from "religious beliefs".
Religious beliefs are an intrinsic nature of human beings.
So there is nothing wrong or unusual about religious beliefs per se.

I am fascinated with a segment of the population's "beliefs in UFOs as
physical extraterrestrial spacecraft" and "beliefs in physical
extraterrestrial aliens that pilot or manipulate those UFOs".

People ask me, "so, what do you actually believe in?"
My answer to them is: "I believe that some people believe that we are
being visited by physical extraterrestrial aliens in physical UFOs".

Then they aske me: "don't you believe that we are being visited by
physical extraterrestrial aliens in physical UFOs?"

In that case, my favorite answers are:

1) The truth is out there!!

and

2) I want to believe!! (not "I believe")

(These are two great slogans from the X-files!!) (LOL!!)

Stephen Hawking, theoretical scientist and one of the most brilliant
minds of our time, states that in this wide universe there ought to be
civilizations somewhere else besides our earth.

However, at the same time Stephen Hawking also states that no aliens
have ever come or will ever come to earth in UFOs.

(What Stephen Hawking was referring to was UFOs as physical alien
spacecraft piloted or maneuvered by physical alien beings).

The late Carl Sagan, who was also one of the most brilliant minds of
our time, basically said the same thing.

If I were given a chance to choose between Stephen Hawking and
"ufologists" (such as myself), I would definitely go with Stephen
Hawking.

Two of the greatest "ufologists" of all time (in my opinion), Dr.
Jacques Vallee and the late John A. Keel, had long given up on the
extraterrestrial hypothesis (ET hypothesis) of the origins of UFOs,
which continues to dominate this entire UFO field.

Vallee and Keel basically came with a conclusion that this whole
phenomenon goes beyond the physical and that it may be impossible to
study it through the so-called "scientific" or "empirical" method.

In other words, we may be confronting a phenomenon no different than
some form of religious manifestations.

So, back to square one: beliefs in "UFOs" are no different from
"religious beliefs".

Norio Hayakawa
http://www.myspace.com/noriohayakawa