i'll play the devil's advocate for the alien angle. aliens see us like we see some group of chimps squatting in the african jungle. scientists will observe, maybe snatch one or two to take measurements and collect dna samples, but there is no reason for them to make open contact. and while they, like our wildlife scientists, will try to remain mostly unseen while doing their observations, on occasion it can't be helped as they go about their business.  remember there was that documentary crew that spent a year or more spending time in close proximity to a group of chimps but not interacting with them, getting them used to their presence so the chimps would eventually ignore them and just do their thing? what if this is like that? what if they make themselves regularly obvious to us, but remain silent, don't pose a danger, and don't make contact? eventually we'll just factor them into our daily lives and stop worrying about them, allowing them to more closely observe us.
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