So we are mostly agreed that the "little green men" advocates are wrong and either frauds or sincere but in the grip of a quasi-religious world view: but are they not harmless?
Given the extraordinary sorts of beliefs that flourish in the world (carefully not identifying the main culprits for fear of retribution - they get SO ANGRY when their precious beliefs are held up to ridicule, or even inspection), I would have thought that the UFOlogists are among the least harmful of cranks.
Perhaps they should be encouraged: after all they are highly unlikely to be converted to sceptical empiricism if dissuaded of their beliefs, more likely to plunge into something more irrational and dangerous that satisfies their probing cravings.
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