But scientists are well aware of many instances in which something that was very radical turned out to be true. So I don't think they would all be scared off by the fact that it's considered radical or non-mainstream. Continental drift was not very popular at the beginning, but it gained adherents rather quickly. As soon as you have a trickle of evidence, that trickle turns into a torrent, and then what was radical yesterday is today mainstream. Now I don't see that happening with the UFO phenomenon.
People are interested in UFOs, perhaps for the wrong reason, but they are interested.
I think it has more to do with Independence Day and Contact and The X-Files. Science fiction is motivating a lot of interest, too. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that, as long as people can think critically. The latest plans to bring Mars rocks back to Earth.