Aliens, Disclosure, and the Danger of Eye-Rolling

It’s been an interesting week to be a writer of paranormal thrillers.

The White House announces plans to release more government files on UFOs and aliens. Former presidents make comments that light the internet on fire. Cable news panels suddenly sound like late-night sci-fi.

And yes…aliens will eventually factor into the Max West storyline.

So you would think I’d be thrilled.

I’m not popping popcorn just yet.

While this all sounds like exciting news, I would urge caution for anyone who believes we’re about to receive earth-shattering proof that extraterrestrials exist and that our government has been secretly shaking hands with Alien Greys in underground hangars for decades.

We’ve been here before.

After the UAP Congressional hearings a few years ago Congress ordered the Executive Branch to review and release information related to unidentified aerial phenomena. What came out of that process was largely what many of us expected: reports of unexplained sightings, particularly by military pilots; some events later explained; others left unresolved.

“Unresolved” does not equal extraterrestrial.

It means exactly what it says…unexplained.

That doesn’t make it insignificant. But it doesn’t make it E.T., either.

There’s also the argument that any disclosure is happening in stages because the world wouldn’t be able to handle the truth. Allegedly, somewhere in a bunker, there’s a downed craft and a memo stamped “Proceed Slowly, Humanity Is Fragile.”

The reasoning often hinges on religion…that confirmation of extraterrestrial life would shatter faith across the globe.

I’m not convinced.

I’m a woman of faith. Proof of life elsewhere in the universe would not shake my belief in God. The Creator fashioned a universe so vast we can barely comprehend it. It would almost feel wasteful for all that space to exist solely for us.

The argument that we were “made in His image” and therefore God could not have created Alien Greys or Lizard Beings doesn’t trouble me either. I look different from my husband. He looks different from our neighbors. Creation contains variety. I don’t read everything in Scripture as literal in the most rigid sense, and I don’t believe the existence of other life forms would threaten divine authorship.

Now, if I ever see an Alien Grey in my kitchen, I will likely punch it in the face out of sheer reflexive terror. But my theology will survive.

Here’s what actually concerns me.

It’s easy to joke about UFOs. Easy to roll our eyes. Easy to lump the entire subject into the “fringe” and move on.

But there are real people - ordinary, thoughtful people - who have had experiences they cannot explain. People who saw something in the sky. People who encountered something outside their control or even more alarming without their consent. People who have been dismissed, mocked, labeled unstable, or accused of chasing attention.

When I was a journalist, I met some of them.

They weren’t cartoon characters. They weren’t trying to build cults or sell tinfoil hats. Many were deeply confused. Some were frightened. Almost all were frustrated that there was no serious place to take their questions.

They deserve dignity.

They deserve honest investigation.

They deserve better than being turned into a punchline whenever the news cycle needs something lighter.

And here’s the other uncomfortable truth: governments keep secrets. It’s what bureaucracies do. They hoard information. They classify it. They compartmentalize it. Knowledge is power, and hidden knowledge is even more powerful. Even more interesting and equally infuriating…hiding the lack of knowledge is just as powerful.

Do I think the government knows things about unexplained events that the public does not? Absolutely. That doesn’t automatically mean alien embassies exist beneath Nevada. It means institutions protect information as a matter of course.

Do I think we are alone in the universe? No. It seems statistically improbable in a cosmos this large.

Do I think aliens have visited Earth? I don’t know.

There are historical events and modern incidents that sit awkwardly against our current understanding of physics and reality. That doesn’t mean every strange light is a spacecraft. But it also doesn’t mean every unexplained event should be laughed away.

The danger is not that disclosure will reveal too much.

The danger is that the question itself will once again be buried under eye-rolling, factionalism, and cultural fatigue.

We’ll make jokes. We’ll meme it. We’ll argue about which politician said what. And then we’ll move on to the next outrage.

Meanwhile, the underlying question remains one of the most profound humanity can ask:

Are we alone?

If we aren’t, what does that mean for science, for faith, for governance, for law and order, for power?

Those questions deserve seriousness.

And the people who have been asking them for decades deserve something better than dismissal.

As for me…I’ll keep writing fiction that wrestles with secrecy, institutions, and hidden knowledge. I’ll keep watching the news with a journalist’s caution and a novelist’s curiosity.

And if disclosure ever truly comes?

I promise I’ll try not to punch the first alien I meet in the face.

What can I say? I’m a child of the 80s and 90s where most aliens are bad guys.