I dunno if they are real or not. But your question is a good one. I would like to see more people answer it instead of mocking the idea though.
Are the soldiers all lying or not?
Kinda like Is Arpaio lying about the BC or is Obama?
Some people just don’t want to have to be out on the spot with a serious answer.
Sincere questions
If we hypothesize an advanced civilization passed near earth on a rogue planet within the last 1,000,000 to 200,000 years ago.
Would one of their priorities be to race out faster than the speed of light to block or recall ALL of their radio transmissions? Did their civilization bypass “the radio age” ?
Why have we not discovered a buried calculator or a jet airplane? Could a vehicle biodegrade entirely in 1,000,000 years? We never see a farm tractor calving out of a glacier. If their printed circuit boards had gold we should occasionally stumble across one. If they are under water why did they build exclusively on the coast?