There is another option--a middle ground between the 2 you mention.
What if they want to be seen, but they realize that their appearance will scare the living hell out of humans if it is not done gradually...giving us time to adapt to the reality of their existence.
On top of that, imagine that they might be lying about exactly what they are.
My attitude is always to presume someone new to our land (or planet) is probably an enemy. History has shown this to be true time and time again.
If they are not enemies, it will take time to build our trust.
See the link in post #41.
“They” is like calling all humans “they” with all the different human cultures and motivations.
Pretending there is one “they” is one reason folks are so befuddled by this stuff.
A characteristic common to many but not all encounters (see abductions) is the supposed alien races lie repeatedly. On the orther hand there are encounters such as Travis Walton’s, where the supposed aliens did him no harm and probably saved his life. I attribute the none human looking ‘aliebns’ to cloned and manufactured bio drones used to deceive humans.
It’s been over fifty years since Roswell. UFO phenomena has spread across time and the world. People are as ready as they ever will be.
If I believed, my money is it’s nefarious.