Area 51 and UFO Conspiracy Theories

Image via WikipediaI used to listen to talk show host Art Bell when he regularly hosted Coast to Coast and one of his favorite topics was Area 51 located in the southern part of Nevada, USA. He firmly believes the US government has and is conducting secret research and possibly meeting with alien life. The area is so top secret that planes are not allowed to fly over the area and the military will say nothing about the facility.
Of course, this is fodder for science fiction writers and Hollywood movies and tv shows. Since I am a big Stargate SG-1 fan, this show fits right into the conspiracy theories. Routinely the SG 1 crew brings alien life to earth through the star gate and treats them in military hospitals, ask them questions, learn new technology, and all of this is "TOP SECRET", not one civilian is aware this is going on.
Movies such as Independnce Day use the Roswell UFO crash of 1947 as the premise of the movie. Conspiracy theorists believe a UFO crashed in 1947 and the government has been studying the craft and the life inside it and to this day believe continued contact with alien life occurs.
I don't know what to make of the Area 51 base, but wouldn't it be interesting if alien life did live among us? How would we react to the knowledge that aliens did not look that much different than we do? A lot of films describe certain alien life as hostile with evil intentions or instinctual behavor while other films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind depict the small alien with the big eyes and then there is E.T. But what if the majority of alien life was not that much different than ourselves?
All I know is that great stories have been inspired by Area 51. One of my favorites is "Little Green Men" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is hilarious yet gives serious attention to the Roswell incident.