“In my view, the universe is literally teeming with life, though I have little but reasoning and logic to support that view. “
In this point, you are in complete alignment with Hawking. But you at least recognize the actual vastness of the problem and have the humility to admit there is no way to actually know the answer to the alien life question.
For me, simple reason and logic dictate that I must accept that there can't be but only one planet in the entire universe that supports intelligent life.
As far as whether "they're" here or not, there's a mountain of evidence to support the notion that they are. Having never witnessed them firsthand myself, I tend to believe the decades worth of reports I've seen.
Again, reason and logic tell me that all of those reports can't be false. There are just too many of them, and many come from extremely reliable, and highly qualified witnesses. Then there's the photographic evidence, radar signatures, ground impressions, radiation readings, etc. There's simply too much of it to ignore.
Here's another one... remember ALH 84001, the Mars meteorite that was found in Antarctica back in 1996? To this day, I believe that that rock contains microscopic fossils of once-living creatures.
It's a big universe, and we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of it yet. There are lifetimes worth of incredible discoveries to come.