Aliens as Modern Religion: Science, Myth, and the Invisible College

To the point

Belief in extraterrestrials is a modern form of faith rivaling traditional religion, spurred by Navy pilot sightings and scientists like Ellen Stofan, with Diana Pasulka describing an 'Invisible College' that treats anomalous data as evidence, noting that Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallée revived the idea and that aliens could become a 'technological angel' shaping religious and secular worldviews as science and media spread awe.