Beleive what you like, I give the subject exactly the respect it deserves. The association with this subject of the gullible, the insane, the dishonest, the self-deceived, the prankster, the attention seeker, the ill-informed,have so utterly muddied the waters as to render a proper scientific study almost impossible. Individuals and groups who, whatever there motivation, argue for the reality of UFOs as alien vehicles (or time travellers, or craft of a hidden Earth civilisation) have made the subject so unrespectable by there pseudoscientific approach that they have inhibited the proper study of these phenomena.
That is a crime against science, against the acquisition of knowledge and against humanity. I utterly condemn their irresponsible behaviour.
I agree in many apsects with what you are saying; that as far as the PUBLIC knows, there is no viable evidence for the existence of UFO's; as far as WE know, there has been no aircraft or bodies recovered, we all know that cameras and video-recorders lie and can be tampered with, and that eye witness acounts are, unfortunately, unreliable, because they give us no physical proof and people can not only lie, but also be mistaken on what they THOUGHT they saw. BUT...I do have to say several things.
ONE) I do not believe that science has given this phenomenon a fair study. I say this because whether or not there is actual physical evidence, the truth is, despsite UFO sightings, people from all over the world, from all different cultures, and from all different eras in history, have reported experiences with what they call "other worldly visitors" or "abduction scenarios".
TWO) Not only do people from all over the world, from all different backgrounds, share similar characteristics in their "abduction" experiences, but many wish to remain anonymous. They do not want fame, or glory, or attention....in fact many people are afraid to come forward because of the ridicule that is dealt out when it comes to the subject. Whether or not "abductions" are actually happening, I do not think it is fair for science to completely dismiss the phenomena as something that is 'deluded' or 'ignorant'. Many people feel that something terrifying has happened to them and whether or not it is something anchored in reality or something that is taking place in the mind, it still deserves fair attention. There has been a plethora of people from all over the world who have reported 'abduction' or 'visitor' experiences that there is a quite a melting pot of people to choose from to study. Acknowledging that the phenomena exists does not mean acknowledging that it is TRUE or RIGHT...it only means that we recognize something is happening to people and whether it is mental or physical is something a fair and unbiased study could attempt to find out.
THREE) We have to realize that visitations from 'otherworldly' beings has been anchored in history since the dawn of time. Fairies, Goblins, Sylphs, Demons, Incubi, Succubi, Ghosts, Aliens, ect. I do not believe that it is sane or sound to say that every person who reports an "abduction" experience or "UFO encounter" is mentally deluded and/or insane. There is no proof that people who believe something 'paranormal' has happened to them are any less intelligent, on average, then those who don't believe in anything 'paranormal' at all. SOMETHING is happening to many people all over the world and many people who have these experiences share the same characteristics.
I believe it is damaging to the people who experience such phenomena when the scientific community completely fails to recognize them. Enough people are reporting such similar experiences that it should be recognized as an existing phenomena that is yet unexplained, but one that is truly real. There is no benefit for absoloutly 'normal' people such as scientists, priests, hairdressers, stay-at-home mothers, actors, etc. to all report similar experiences of 'abduction' encounters or 'visitor' experiences. Why should they lie when they don't want fame?
It doesn't mean that what happened to them has taken place in the physcial world, but it does mean that they believe STRONGLY that something frightening HAS happened to them and not only do they want help...but they want ANSWERS. Whether it is physical or mental, no one knows, but these people who are victims of these experiences deserve to be recognized by the scientific community and given a fair study to help them put to rest the experiences that have, for many, terrified them all their lives.