My take is probably not all that interesting. 

But, I did have a traumatizing experience late one night. Twenty seven years ago. An experience with aliens that I tried to forget. Until Jeremy asked for my take on aliens in light of all the alien news. A night that made my butt pucker any time someone mentioned aliens, ufos or probes. 

As a kid, our house was gross. Hindsight, we grew up in a dumpster. Trash, smells, bugs and all. Embarrassing as a kid. So I never invited friends to sleep over. Except there was this one loophole. A loophole, that would soon close. 

Even though our house was a dump, we had a trampoline. Outside, away from the sty.

And in the colder months I could invite friends to sleep over in sleeping bags on our trampoline. 

Until this one night in particular.

A cool, yet seemingly normal fall night. Late. Way later than 8 year olds should be awake. 

But my best friend Grainger and I were awake. And we were having a blast.  Jumping around in our bags one final time before bed. Like two drunk worms bouncing on the moon. Knocking each other over laughing hysterically. 

Out of nowhere Grainger stops. Pointing behind me, above my head. Frozen as if grasped by a tractor beam. 

Behind me, a bright orb, slightly smaller than the moon peered out just above the massive magnolia tree. A tree which towered above our two story house on the hill. 

The orb had seen us, and we had seen it. Both parties frozen as we each calculated our next move.  

Trying not to alert the UFO, Grainger and I frantically whispered a plan which would hopefully avoid abduction.

“RUN!”, I shouted. As I dropped my sleeping bag around my ankles and took off toward the smoking porch. A 4’x6’ safe haven full of cigarette butts that offered an escape safely into the house.

But the door was locked. 

After 2 seconds of deliberation we proceeded to wake the whole house by rapping on the glass shouting for dad in desperation.

What felt like an eternity later, Dad emerged in his underwear.

But when we looked back to show him, the aliens had retreated.

Obviously scared of my dad. 

Needless to say that was the last night I would have friends over to sleep on the trampoline. 

And until the recent alien news, I hadn’t given that incident much consideration. 

But reflecting on it again, having witnessed more flying objects in my life, I can fairly confidently say, what we witnessed was likely sunlight reflecting off a ULD balloon. A balloon much like the “Chinese spy balloon”. 

Because it behaved fairly similarly. Seemingly stationary. Rapidly disappearing because it was eclipsed by a passing cloud.

All that to say, any reality seems plausible. Whether aliens have visited but the Intelligence Community covered, aliens haven’t visited, aliens don’t exist, or the Intelligence Community is just pretending they have evidence, I will not be surprised. Curious, sure. But it will not turn my world upside down because any permutation likely doesn’t matter. Interesting entertainment. But probably unimportant.