UFOs make a comeback, but why?

For my response to the question posed on page 135 of "Everything's An Argument", I decided to turn to the opinion section of the Wilmette Life. I was immediately drawn to an article titled "Don't look now, but UFOs make a comeback" by Paul Sassone. The article begins by pointing out how interest in UFOs has risen in the past few years. Apparently, NBC and ABC both aired prime time specials in the recent weeks. Also, according to a 2002 poll, 56% of Americans believe in UFOs, and 70% believe that the truth is being covered up by the government. The height of the UFO craze was in the 1950s, when Americans were terrified of communist takeover. Sassone argues that the revived interest in UFOs has come from our new fear of terrorism, or a failing economy. I mean it makes sense, many scholars say that the original UFO sightings were a symbol of our fear of communism, and now that we have a new fear we have more UFO interest. However, Sassone slightly under cuts his argument with his statistics on American opinion of UFOs. He references how more than half of Americans believe in UFOs, and how many sighting organizations have expanded. But, this takes away from his argument that we turn to UFOs to symbolize our fears as a nation. These opinions have been built up over 50 years, and so have the organizations. In the end, the reader is left confused. Are we merely personifying our fears as extraterrestrial visitors, or do we actually have a legitimate belief in these flying saucers? I think Sassone was trying to lead his readers to this question, rather than heavily argue a certain side. That way, the reader can walk away pondering the collective sub-conscious of America and what the real reason is behind the UFO comeback.