I've been following NASA's search for exoplanets (planets around other suns, far, far away--several thousand discovered so far--some habitable--satisfy some of the known conditions for life) and NASA's and others' efforts to pinpoint conditions for life having developed elsewhere, within our solar system, within our galaxy and within our universe--efforts that have shown compelling results so far (exoplanets everywhere; evidence of water everywhere; evidence of huge oceans beneath the ice on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and more). I'd say that the search for life in the universe has ignited the scientific community, especially over the last few decades with the discovery of so many exoplanets (estimated billions of them in our galaxy alone).
This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not aliens have visited our planet--until and unless we find out that they have (based on unambiguous evidence). There may be something else of interest at work in the UFO phenomenon--intuition, or perhaps some other psychic phenomenon, whereby some people FEEL that alien life exists, and this feeling has inspired science fiction writers, who have, in turn, inspired scientists to look for alien life. It might be possible that intuitive and creative minds felt the presence of other life in the universe before modern science addressed itself to this issue. That intuition could take many forms--including hallucinations of alien abduction, etc., dreams and myths (of indigenous peoples, for instance), religious perceptions of angels and other powerful celestial beings, as well as writing fiction about it. Indeed, Arthur C. Clarke addresses this very phenomenon (human psychological projection of aliens, that turns out to have substance in reality) in his science fiction book "Childhood's End" (one of the best science fiction books ever written).
I don't scoff at UFOers, myself. Some experience has seized some of them very powerfully--whether it is abduction, or their focus on the many strange things that have happened in human history, or still happen. Few of them are out for money or fame, from what I can see. Indeed, UFO experiences or research seems to cause a lot of problems for people--it kind of invades their lives, rather than helping them materially. It could be delusion, or a skewed personal obsession, or something else. (Ever read "The Mind Parasites," by Colin Wilson--an sf book about alien invasion via the human brain? Interesting book!) I think the "something else" needs to be explored. Why does the human mind create aliens, angels, devils, gods, ghosts, fairies, etc.? Why do some of us create these beings that skeptics cannot see? Why do they believe in them, often with great passion? Why do we have this capacity? What IS this capacity?
I have a feeling that, one day, science may address THIS question in a serious way, and may find out what all that unused brain matter is FOR. Maybe all the illusions and delusions that human beings experience point to some higher abilities as yet unknown, misunderstood or simply ignored by "hard" scientists, who feel the need to prove that they aren't delude-able.
But the hard fact is that hard scientists are now seriously, systematically and with great fervor engaging in a search for life elsewhere--whether intelligent or just microbial. THEY would laugh at your equation of aliens with UFOs, by which you clearly mean that the search for life elsewhere is goofy and delusional. Well, it ain't delusional any more. It IS "out there"--and, given what has been found out recently, it is only a matter of time before it is discovered. This is not goofy. This is hard science.
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