"Are alien abduction stories real?"

One of my jobs is to tutor young kids, usually 5th or 6th graders, in reading and math. The other day I was at a school with another friend of mine who I work with and we somehow got onto the topic of the supernatural things that happen like alien abduction stories, big foot and so on.

The thing that bothered me about my friend was that he was a major skeptic in everything. He basically shot down these kids' creativity by telling them they were all lies and that people just hoax them to make money. I didn't feel like arguing with him, but I did transition the conversation into a "just research something before you believe it" tone rather than "everything is a lie."

And that is the way everything should be approached. Stuff like alien abduction stories, UFOs, even monsters like the Chupacabras - they exist for a reason. Sure, there may be some things that are hoaxes, but that doesn't debunk the whole ocurrence of such things. In the end, there is no way to prove either direction 100%, it's all about researching the topic for yourself and believing it through conviction.