Why poo poo this? This is what really irks me when people laugh this stuff off and spout off something about Fermi's paradox without even understanding it. Fe

Why poo poo this? This is what really irks me when people laugh this stuff off and spout off something about Fermi's paradox without even understanding it. Fermi's paradox only asks simply "if statistics say they are everywhere, well then where are they?" What if the answer is simply: "Zooming all around us and we occasionally see one". Period. The rest is assumption. Fermi's paradox does NOT presuppose contact. That is likely a false assumption. It does not presuppose consistent detection also. Why would they make contact anyways? Didn't Hawking point out that contact is a bad idea for lesser advanced cultures throughout history? Wouldn't extreme clandestine scientific activity be the MOST intelligent thing to do, even the most benevolent? Wouldn't extreme evasiveness and covert activity, even active concealment of both your orgin, existence, and intention be the most species-self-preserving if you knew you weren't "alone out there"? If they are sufficiently advanced, what could they possible gain talking to us that cannot simply be deduced from observation alone? When was the last time you parked your Tesla next to an ant hill and demanded to talk to the queen ant? When was the last time you tried to contact an un-contacted tribe deep in the jungle to announce your existence? None of that seems to pan out so we convince ourselves that it cannot be therefore it must not be based on false assumptions. Even if they were sloppy about concealment like we are I don't think we would even be able to pick up a alien TV station if it was emanating from a planet orbiting Alpha Centari. The signal loss is 1/r^2 unless you direct a focused tight beam dedicated to being detected. And what would you want the governments of the world to tell you if they knew? "Yes, they are here. Yes we know some. Yes they are super advanced. No there is nothing we can do about it sorry they run circles our best stuff. Yeah we also heard a rumor they are taking people in the middle of the night and we don't know why. Sleep tight!" ... Think of the lawsuits! I would say black project aircraft is the only viable alternative theory, but how is that not EQUALLY interesting also given the capability described? Why poo poo it? That's what I don't understand. I don't buy mass hallucinations of the same thing over and over. Its just too consistent. "Where's the video"? Go take a video of the full moon with your phone and tell me if its discernible from a can light on a distant black ceiling. Just my 2 cents. Would love the hear the counter argument.