Being asked what I think about an Ancient Aliens theory and my response sums up to "sure man it sounds cool but going 'what if' isn't a substitute for evidence"

right?
even toddlers can reason better than "what if"...

also you could "what if" anything, like that tree fell because that guy chopped it down but "what if" that wasn't a chainsaw, it was an alien tool, because he wasn't a man either...it was an alien. An alien descended on our planet to chop down one tree!

(that was a dumb example, but the point is, you could what if till the cows come home from their jumping over the moon practice and it still won't replace actual hard evidence which these people never seem to have)

these people don't even hear themselves, do they? its always a "look at this picture...now what if I tell you this weird shape isn't just a crude drawing but instead hard evidence that aliens came down to earth?"

Honestly I think a lot of it is tenuous evidence and so-called 'experts' with fancy titles that don't mean anything ("According to ancient alien theorists...") connecting the dots in combination with distrust towards governmental bodies to be forthcoming with the truth. And on some level maybe a lot of people just want the monotony of their lives to be broken up by the thrill of a conspiracy which would be a huge crux in all of human development. On an emotional fulfillment level it's not really something I fault people for, only when it gets to the point of ruling their reasoning skills.

I get what you mean.

When your own lives are disappointingly dull you begin to seek that thrill elsewhere, and for some that thrill comes in the form of a secret alien conspiracy.

But when people make these aliens their whole worldview to the point where they no longer trust evidence, that's when they cross over into delusion and that's where the problem begins.

Human love coming up with stories, but when it gets in the way of reality...that's when you've gone too far, yknow?