I don't care about UFO conspiracies, X-Files type of stuff. It's all nonsense.
Though I'm a pragmatist and a cynic, it doesn't mean that I can't have some abstract thoughts about our reality.
We are in a simulation, though it's not like in The Matrix. If someone wanted to create a Zoo-type scenario to test out evolutionary pathways, they wouldn't need to create a physical world. Yet the first thing they need to do for us is to "isolate" us. The universe seems infinite and impossible to travel. And we will never leave this rock, ever. The material and physics limitations are prohibitive. Except for Science Fiction, there is no way to
The simulation is not just for us, but for every living creature that's self-aware. I believe the simulation will end, and restart, once the evolutionary loop is complete.
Though the Analyst in Matrix Resurrections said something along the lines of "The more miserable people are, the easier they are to control." Well, look at the world around us today, then look back at history. There's never been continuous peace and harmony in this world, a point when everyone was content. It's not just human nature, it's how we're wired at the core level. Only struggles and conflict push evolution forward, especially technological evolution, since we're at that stage now.
So aliens, if they're out there, and they're superior to us, and we meet... well, we'd be in big trouble... if that were the case.
Just my two cents.