 It's all gone from being fictional nonsense to a serious scientific endeavor, and that's okay. Our opinions are influenced by the inheritance of dominating perspectives, which are continually sustained by books we read, the TV shows we watch, and the movies we see. It stands to reason that the most popular movies in the box office are about aliens, about life elsewhere in the universe. Books often reflect the culture, and books about space and aliens are very popular, along with comic books.