Those oh so standoffish aliens

There are many among humanity who wonder if there is sentient life in the universe besides us.  Today, there are those that are convinced that aliens are visiting us.  There are others who are skeptical.  Many people are open to the possibility, but are not convinced.  There's probably some people that never even give it any thought.

One of the biggest question's people ask in regards to the subject is why the aliens don't make their presence known?  Of course, there are some people that claim the aliens have made their presence known...some claim to have communicated with them, others claim to have been abducted by them.  But why don't the aliens just make some grand appearance and announce their arrival to everyone?

Well many people have made various suggestions over the years as to why the aliens are seemingly so shy.  These are some of the ideas people have come up with over the years (along with some of my own thoughts).

(Note: Whenever I used the word "government," I'm not necessarily referring to any particular government.)

• The government knows about the aliens, but are afraid to release the information to the public out of fear that the public won't handle the information well.  Essentially, our rulers just don't think were ready to know about the existence of aliens yet.  

To a certain point, I like this suggestion....but ultimately, I think this suggestion gives people the wrong impression.  I don't think the government is concerned about us so much as they are concerned about themselves.  I'll go into more detail about what I mean by that in the last suggestion I list.

• Earth is just an interstellar rest stop or tourist destination.

This suggestion just reeks of 50s and 60s B movie sci-fi.  The idea that aliens are just zipping around space going about their daily grind is probably just us projecting our way of life on them.

• The aliens are just here to observe our behavior.  

Some people think the aliens just found us and merely want to observe our behavior and development.  The aliens purposely don't interfere because they want to see how we do it on our own.  This may be a plausible suggestion.  A variant of this suggestion says that the aliens didn't just find us, but we are actually their science project.  They created our civilization and want to watch how we develop.  Another variant says they are breeding us to be their slaves.  I think these latter two suggestions also sound like something from B movie sci-fi.

• The aliens don't make their presence known because they simply aren't there. 

Well bah humbug to you too.

• The aliens we see today are the same as the angels and demons of the past.

I like this idea.  In the past, angels, demons, and 'gods' rarely made a public appearance, and they usually only appeared to or communicated with certain people.  How convenient that the aliens of today only appear to or communicate with certain people too?

One thing I don't like about this idea is I think it gives some people the wrong impression.  Some people interpret this as ancient people 'mistaking' aliens for angels, demons, or 'gods'.  Well I don't necessarily think this was a 'mistake'.  If we are to assume for a moment that the aliens of today are the same as the angels and demons of yesterday, then I think it is more or less an issue of semantics.  If they are the same, then these beings are what they are regardless of what you call them.  I can call this bottle of Dr. Pepper I'm drinking a soda, a pop, or a soft drink, but regardless of what I call it, it still is what it is - a consumable beverage.

As for why the 'aliens' don't reveal themselves to everyone, I guess you can just insert your own beliefs about the angels, demons, and 'gods' of the past.  Whatever you think their reasons were for only revealing themselves to select individuals in the past would presumably be the same reasons they only reveal themselves to select individuals now.

And although I like this idea and think it's plausible, I'm not 100% convinced that it's a correct assumption.  It's also possible that it's only partially right...which would be to say that some 'aliens' are angels and demons, but not all of them.

• The aliens look like us and live among us.  

The aliens either look like us, or are at least able to disguise themselves into looking like us.  I suppose it's possible.  Maybe they just want to help us without us knowing it?

• The aliens have an agreement with the government that states they (the aliens) have to keep their presence a secret from the public.

Actually I thought this one up myself, but I'm not necessarily claiming to be the first person that ever thought of this.  Basically the gist of this idea is similar to the first one I listed, but the reason the government wants to keep the presence of the aliens a secret is because they are somehow benefiting from keeping the knowledge of the aliens a secret.  The benefit would most likely be a military advantage or something like that.  By keeping the alien presence a secret, the government doesn't have to share the knowledge they have gained from the aliens.  And as they say...'knowledge is power'.  As for how they convinced the aliens not to show anyone else their knowledge, I don't know.  Maybe they're just good negotiators.

• The aliens are totally peaceful and choose to avoid the potential conflict caused by them making their presence known publicly.

This one is similar to the first suggestion I mentioned.  But the difference is the reason for disclosure is not because the government thinks we aren't prepared to accept the reality of visiting aliens, but because the government just doesn't want us to know they exist.  In other words, the government is not concerned that knowledge of extraterrestrials will damage our psyches and confuse our view of reality, but concerned that it would shift the balance of power away from them (the government).  Simply put, public knowledge of extraterrestrials would be a threat to ruling elite's power.

Think about it...if everyone knew extraterrestrials existed, we'd be wanting to ask them a lot of questions.  Think of all the questions you'd want to ask them?  Essentially, power would begin to shift to the aliens.  The ruling elite don't want this.

This isn't about politics.  This is not about Democrat or Republican.  It's not even about liberal or conservative.  It's about elitism.  Elitists can be found in all areas of the political spectrum, whether it be the extreme left, the middle of the road, or the extreme right.  Elitism is basically a mixture of snobbery, pompousness, racism, and a 'survival of the fittest' attitude.  Most of history's prominent rulers could be considered elitists, and the same is true today.  Elitist rulers don't want anyone threatening their authority.  I think the best example to use is communism.  Communist countries take an official stance of atheism, and communist leaders love this because their authority isn't questioned by religious authorities or what a holy book says.  They don't want the people they rule to believe in a higher authority.  As such...they don't want the people they rule to believe in aliens either.  The presumably more advanced aliens would be a threat to the leader's authority.  People would no longer be interested in what their leader had to say, they'd be more interested in what the aliens have to say.  I mean come on, can you imagine Stalin or Mao just stepping aside and saying, "Yessir Mr. Alien, please give us your knowledge and tell us how we need to do things."  I think Stalin and Mao were perfectly content being in charge and telling everyone else how to live their lives.

To further clarify though,  were not just talking about elected government officials or dictators.  The world's ruling elite consist of much more than just elected officials.  Global politics are also influenced by international bankers, wealthy industrialists, and moguls of various sorts.

So what were talking about here would be a paradigm shift.  A paradigm shift that the ruling elite would not want.  The ruling elite are perfectly content with being wealthy and powerful.  They are perfectly content with having servants to do the things they don't want to do, while they do the things they want to do, whether it be deciding where to buy another mansion, or flying somewhere in their personal jet.  They fear the message the aliens may bring would be a threat to their wealth and power.

So with all this in mind...it may be that the aliens are aware that the ruling elite would attack if they attempted to relay whatever their message is.  The media would justify the attacks by portraying the aliens as invaders.  They aliens may very well be capable of retaliating, but it may be their choice not too.  Just because you have the power to retaliate doesn't mean you should.  If the aliens are peaceful by nature, it may be their desire to just avoid conflict altogether.

Now of course, it's not quite as simple as just blaming elitists that don't want their power threatened.  This is where it gets similar to the first suggestion I mentioned.  Inevitably, there would be much confusion on what the true nature of the aliens are.  Some people would go along with what the media and their leaders - whether religious or political - tell them.  If the leaders and the media tell them that the aliens are bad, they'll assume they're bad.  But others would want to listen to what the aliens have to say.  So the stability of the world would be threatened regardless.  The main difference between this suggestion and the first one though is the resulting conflict would begin because the ruling elite felt their power would be threatened and chose to instigate a conflict to maintain that power.  The ruling elite are not concerned about us, they are concerned about themselves.

I don't claim to know the answer to the question of why the aliens seem to be so shy, but it could very well be one of these scenarios.  It may be a combination of more than one of these scenarios.  It may even be something we haven't thought of yet.  Perhaps one day we will know.