My mom once said something interesting to me... that perhaps aliens do exist, and they are actually the "gods" we keep praying to... so basically, the aliens use us as cosmic playthings when they're bored. xD I neither agree nor disagree with this assertion, but I think it's funny. :3

On the actual topic: I don't entirely write off the existence of extraterrestrial life... in fact, I think it's a distinct possibility: we've already discovered that the universe is huge and apparently endless, therefore, there is absolutely no reason to believe that there is not another planet in another solar system capable of supporting life. However, I also believe that not all other planets are necessarily more advanced than ours-- some planets may already be living in Star Wars or Blade Runner by now, but some may still be hunter-gatherers or living in the literal Dark Ages, so that may be why no aliens have bothered us by now: some can't get here (or haven't thought of it) and some just don't give a shit. As for Area 51, I agree that it's probably just a distraction by now, and the government just lets us harp on that while they build more new machines to kill people or whatever the government does when they're not trying to kill another country or brainwashing us all. xD I don't even think they want to bother the aliens anymore, if they ever did.