are aliens real?

I remember when I had a fixation on whether or not aliens are real, or if the whole concept itself was based on crack snorters and tinfoil enjoyers. I once had a free form paper back in middle school, and I chose to write the exact topic this is about, but I didn't know the rabbit hole I would throw myself into. it became a short obsession of me trying to find out everything I could, comparing evidence to conspiracy theory, and looking into equipment specifically created by space specialists to find other life within this universe. It felt like one thing contradicted the other and you could really trust nothing but official sources stating that any and all equipment made really showed up with a blank. I mean, I was passionate, I tried my best to figure stuff out, but I was also obnoxious at times regarding these things. I had to write a paper for my social studies class that same year in middle school, but I refused and instead wrote about my opinion on the whole alien debate, resident evil, my best friend across the class, and why I thought it was unfair that someone had created numbers and EVERYONE followed along. exactly, not really funny or inovative, just annoying and lazy, but I still got a C+. Anyways, i just wanted to write my first blog and this was it, but what do you think? are aliens real in your mind?