something else to consider - would we even be capable recognizing certain alien life forms...?

I mean sure, there might be the little guys with the funny shapes heads. But it could also be possible that there are certain dimensional beings existing on frequency spectrums that might not appear as physical. we might not even possess the ability to perceive/translate those frequency spectrums (yet).

or, what's to say there aren't aliens amongst us in human form? or perhaps, we ourselves are even aliens?

or that those crazy ass deep sea creatures aren't alien?

considering "aliens" are supposed to be from different galaxies, dimensions, etc - most people's conception of them as showing up as something simply physical might be rather unrealistic and limited...