"Robert Smith is convinced the aliens have won. “The invasion has happened—it’s all over,” says the University of Alberta space historian who teaches a course on the history of extraterrestrials.
It’s not so much that Smith believes in their literal existence, only that aliens have staked their claim in the human imagination…"
In a way, I feel like aliens is basically a modern religion, because it plays on both fear and salvation. There’s always the fear of abduction, annihilation or governmental hybrid programs, but I also see people viewing the arrival of an alien race as a solution to our problems, a sort of escapism if you will.