I very much enjoy Terry Pratchett's way of thinking and expressing things -
“It's amazing how good governments are, given their track records
in almost every other field, at hushing up things like alien encounters.
One reason may be that the aliens themselves are too embarrassed to
talk about it.
It's not known why most of the space-going races
of the universe want to undertake rummaging in Earthling underwear as a
prelude to formal contact. But representatives of several hundred races
have taken to hanging out, unsuspected by one another, in rural corners
of the planet and, as a result of this, keep on abducting other would-be
abductees. Some have been in fact abducted while waiting to carry out
an abduction on a couple of aliens trying to abduct the aliens who were,
as a result of misunderstood instructions, trying to form cattle into
circles and mutilate crops.
The planet Earth is now banned to
all alien races until they can compare notes and find out how many, if
any, real humans they have actually got. It is gloomily suspected that
there is only one - who is big, hairy, and has very large feet.
The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head.”
―
Hogfather
