So last Tuesday Larry King interviews Barack Obama and then three days later, he does a show debating the existence of UFOs. It's fucking nutty. (King, who i just found out has done these shows for years, apparently wants to be the first broadcaster to interview an alien).

Don't get me wrong: I don't think we're alone. The universe is infinite, so it's kind of tough to imagine we're the only planet in it that sustains life. It also stands to reason that at least some of that life would be more evolved and intelligent than us Earthlings, and thus could possess the means to visit and study our planet.

Certainly, these old dudes who came on King's show last week and swore that they've seen UFOs sounded quite convincing - much more persuasive than the skeptics King threw out there (but isn't that always the case when true believers face their skeptics).

The pro-UFO guys basically said that alien spaceships have been disarming nuclear weapons during tests performed since the 1940s. Two of these men were former military people involved with the tests, and one of them claimed to have seen taped footage of one such instance before it was confiscated by the government.  They believe there's a huge conspiracy being perpetrated on the American people (The French, apparently, have no problem admitting UFOs exist).

Here's why I still don't buy it:

• The American government is mostly incompetent. I love me a good conspiracy or two, and am a profound believer in power's corrupting forces, but the current administration couldn't even produce one single secret cache of weapons of mass destruction to try and justify the Iraq war. The CIA and FBI could barely communicate with each other when it came to 9/11. Examples of Washington's incompetence and mismanagement exist everywhere, so it would be highly presumptuous to believe that the government has somehow managed to keep a tight lid on the existence of UFOs for more than 60 years.
• Ostensibly, we're spending billions and billions of dollars to try and find life on other planets (without success so far). Doesn't seem to make much sense for our government to also withhold knowledge of visiting ETs at the same time, unless of course you think our space exploration program is just a conspiracy as well (which is of course the beauty of a good conspiracy theory - they're impossible to disprove cuz true believers will always just claim more conspiracies.)
• Everyone has a camera nowadays. Even telescopic cameras are widespread. We should be drowning in photographic evidence of visiting spaceships. Instead, most of the rather meager stuff that's out there looks really inconclusive or has been proven as fake.
• Many believers point out that the flying crafts they've seen are using some sort of hovering, anti-gravity, supersonic technology that doesn't exist on Earth (and certainly wasn't even in the realm of possibility 50-plus years ago). If that's the case, why aren't those superduper spaceships also using some sort of stealth technology (which exists on a basic level even in our primitive world) that would make them invisible to the naked eye, radar, and lens (On the other hand, I guess that could explain the lack of pictures :-) )
• Finally, and most importantly, I haven't seen shit.

I've always said I'd gladly believe in god if I could witness some biblical-like voodoo - burning bushes, parting seas, plagues of boils, etc. It's not like I don't want to believe there's a purpose and meaning to our lives. I just want some proof.

Similarly, it's not like I wouldn't want to find out aliens have been watching out for us and trying to keep us from nuking each other to kingdom come. I'd welcome that truth, even if it did blow my mind a bit (just please don't be like the dudes from "V").

Alas, until aliens grace me with their presence or a glimpse of one of their cool vehicles - or at least until I see one of them chatting it up with Larry King - I'll remain one skeptical Earthling.