The problem is these stories while inconsistent in the ways you mention are also inexplicably consistent in other ways. Imagine we have another small populatio

The problem is these stories while inconsistent in the ways you mention are also inexplicably consistent in other ways. Imagine we have another small population of moderately more technologically advanced hominids right here on Earth. Say they want to fool us and make us think they are ET. Imagine they have technology we we have, like VR, drugs, and some we don’t like novel high energy hydroelectrodynamic atmospheric propulsion. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and if you experienced it, you would probably find yourself hallucinating details like the ones you mentioned to make it fit into some kind of coherent picture based on the technology and even physics you know.