There’s a lot of give and take here on FR. We have wit, we have wisdom, and even sometimes flame wars. Some posts are made with much forethought and crafting. Many represent a flash of inspiration.
As to the general question of what drives personal viewpoints regarding extraterrestrial biological entities, a lot of folks are influenced by a cultural mythos regarding same, some are inclined to turn the discussion towards topics rooted in mysticism, and others find the subject simply too far removed from the challenges and respites of day to day living.
Those of us who turn our analysis to the ufo phenomena need always be aware of what our preconceptions are, and try to have an understanding about the roots of those preconceptions. Not to rid ourselves completely of them, since that would undercut the construction of individual conceptions. But understand how the foundation laid by those pre-conceptions inform the edifice of conclusions which are built upon them.
Make note of the portions of the excerpt which are highlighted. Mr. Wise is 100% correct that the questions which needed to be asked, were not asked. Probably because the reporters fleshed out the answers in their minds based upon their own unrecognized preconceptions.
A similar problem is that there is a difference between believing what we have seen with our own eyes, and what we believe about what it is we have seen. The latter is driven also by preconceptions.
So, though, which of our questions do you think most folks would cluster around in some sort of frequency distribution?