The original post is very interesting and balanced. I enjoyed it, thank you for taking the time to post it.
Whereas IMO there is life outwith this planet, there are possible explanations for much of what you describe.
I have read Chariots of the Gods. I once had the bad judgement to ask my Peruvian husband if he thought aliens created the Nazca Plain drawings and if he thought the lines were part of a landing strip for alien craft. Ridicule doesn't cover it. Apparently these were created by intelligent life in Peru, not space. They are some kind of seasonal calendar relating to the planting of crops...and this is visible from the surrounding mountains if you know what you're looking for. To me, why would anyone build a calendar only visible from a mountain top, but Peruvians don't mind going up there and do so for ceremonial purposes so...not aliens then.
Their Incaic buildings and the enormity of the stones used, the way the joints are so seamless you can't slide a paper between the rocks all are very impressive. This too is down to Peruvian craftmanship, not aliens. All I can say is they are a people who work very well as a team, they are very cooperative and amiable and will work hard when they begin. I think it probable they did build Macchu Picchu and there are examples of this type of building in Cusco and other locations, not just at the mountain top. Most places are at the top of an Andean hill in Peru anyhow.
I visited Teotihuacan, the pyramids of the sun and moon, in Mexico and have seen other depictions of bearded men in such places. This is a bit odd as latin men don't grow much hair on the sides of their faces, I think this is why you see spanish aristocrats with those silly wee moustache and beard arrangements...the hair just doesn't grow outside the central facial area. For example, if my husband lets his facial hair grow, it only grows in the centre of his chin and his moustache. It indicates that the men depicted may have come from a different culture. But this means nothing. I am blonde with green eyes, my sister is shorter, dark with blue eyes. In Morocco, a man and his grandson asked to touch my arm to see how my skin felt as it looked so different to them, and also my hair because they are used to dark hair. I appeared as alien to them as anything can be. The ruling family may just happen to have had certain physical characteristics which distinguished them from the crowd.
If you visit Rosslynn Cathedral here in Scotland, which has always been a miraculous place to me but is fairly widely known now because it features in the "Da Vinci Code" book, in the carvings within the cathedral there are depictions of types of crop which only grew in the US at that time. The US had not officially been discovered, but William St Clair and his friends were avid adventurers and travelled widely. It is believed they had visited the Americas and the carving depicted what they saw on their travels. I don't suggest associates of these particular people travelled and became blond mummies, but the Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, French, Germans, the Dutch, us Scots and the English, take your pick...all were in the habit of taking out a boat and not coming back for several years, for example on crusades. I am sure we were in that habit even prior to the crusades and that a few of the ships went AWOL from time to time and washed up in unexpected places.

Actually, sightings did spike after the nuclear tests.

UFO sightings in United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obviously there are people who have taken advantage of the sensationalism of the media. I'm not really going to play my cards one way or the other, I just think some of those things are too odd to be considered coincidences.

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"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke

The universe is around 14 billion years old. I think the mathematical probability of finding two neighbouring civilizations who are only within maybe a thousand years of each other in technological advancement is too far of a stretch. After all, if aliens are still using metal saucers to get around space, I don’t think they can be further than a couple thousand years ahead of us. Heck even finding a close-by civilization that is hundred-thousand years more technologically advanced is a bit of stretch.

Rodog and I have scratched the surface of technological advancement in the next hundred years via the thread on Transhumanism. Barring catastrophe, just imagine where we will be in the next thousand years? As Arthur C. Clarke has stated "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.

I think that following the increasingly steep upward trend of advancement, envisioning humanity a thousand years from now seems to far beyond our scope of imagination at this point. If we are still cruising around in metal ships, I would opine that something has gone wrong in our advancement.

I will never rule visitation out completely, but I will say that I highly doubt it ever happened.

Locke,
Old buddy, and here I am thinking that you're a stuffed shirt. Welcome to the looney bin.

I think the whole idea of aliens and space travel is exciting. I wish I knew how to live to 150 so that I can see how the story is going to turn out, and if people really will colonize other planets. Very interesting.

Same here. I have thought a lot about that.

I feel we as humans are right on the cusp of longevity though - so your wish may come true.

It's hard to say really. But if there are aliens that have the technology to travel between here and their home planet, than they all most certainly have the power to make sure that we don't notice them.

Firstly, that stupid, offensive, and completely worthless comment contributed nothing to this discussion. Nothing. Secondly, I don't take kindly to that kind of impulsive and rash foolishness, and I have a damn good mind to report that post. In case you weren't able to make the very simple distinction, this topic isn't about me, and it isn't about you.

Obviously, you're still brooding about our little debate, and you haven't gotten over it, contrary to what you said earlier. I suggest that you do get over it--quickly. I'm not in the mood to deal with your childish and useless insults that are seemingly spawned from a childish and useless grudge.

My comments regarding the possibility of alien life are reasonable--nothing like you're making them out to be. So do you consider yourself to be omniscient? You must. Either that, or you're just arrogant, since you're acting as if you know for a fact that alien's don't exist.

By the way, people experiencing the idiotic, weak and worthless side-effects--such as psychosis, and hallucinations--of "rolling up a big one" and "smoking it all" are much more prone to being locked up in a padded cell, my friend. Get over yourself.

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"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
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"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke

The sightings have been going up dramatically with the advent of electronic media especially. As far as the spikes after the nuclear tests, that all happened around the same time the Roswell story was published. So I hypothesize that the media caused the sightings boom, not the sightings causing the media boom.

It would be way cool if there are Extra T's coming around and chillin. I just wish they'd hold still and sit down so we can have a chat and a beverage. Anything is possible my friend and nothing is proven.

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Of course anything is possible. I wasn't saying I'm sure they're out there and that's fact, nor was I saying they're not out there.

It would be cool, yes. Although based on what I feel about humanity and this Earth, I would venture to guess that any superior beings would take one look at this planet and decide to put us all out of our pathetic and insignificant misery...

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"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
-John F. Kennedy

"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."
-John Locke

"What worries you, masters you."
-John Locke