You listed only two choices, but of course there are more than that. Other possibilities are that people see things in the dark, jump to conclusions, are influenced by the power of suggestion, etc.
Cow mutilations are easily explained by pack animals hunting and going after the easy meat. UFOs are seen all the time, but that just means they are unidentified, not of alien origin. If there is something in the sky at night, it can be awfully hard to identifiy.

Occam’s Razor, all things being equal, the simplest explanation is preferred.
somebody sees a strange light in the sky, which is more likely
aliens exist, traveled millions of light years just to zoom around in our sky for a few minutes. or they are simply mistaking something that they don’t know for something the think they know.
insanity isn’t needed to pass off most if not all of these odd sightings, it is only needed to look at the fallacies in logic, just because you can’t explain something, or can’t understand something, doesn’t mean its a UFO, alien, ghost, or anything else.

Crazy is a bit harsh (for most) – very intelligent people can be fooled by misconceptions, cognitive biases, popular opinion. It really boils down to factors such as people are not being taught critical thinking and skepticism which would be in the schools, and the public’s general knowledge of science and scientific method is sadly lacking.
There is also a plethora of nonsensical movies and TV shows like ghost hunters, which do target the credulous and gullible. And – perhaps there is after all something to the paranormal, though to date we do not have one single scrap of credible evidence to support it, lots of evidence against it, and plenty of mundane earthly explanations for most reported occurrences. We also have scammers, con artists and tabloid press out there after a quick buck.
Stay skeptical, question everything and remember to keep an open mind, open to both sides of the story, and not so open that your brains fall out! Do not imediately believe something that is unusual is paranoramal – explore the natural and mundane first, paranormal explainations should be your last resort.
Read more science literature, the natural universe is far more exciting and awesome than superstitions and the so-called paranormal. Hey, we are on the verge of proving or disproving big bang – either way, that’s exciting stuff.

No people are not crazy and some paranormal events do happen, although they probably arent paranormal, and some are just hype, stories, hoaxes, and lets not forget mass hysteria.
The thing is, this is nothing new, its been going on for centuries, probably millennia. Every so often interest in paranormal picks up for a few decades and every time it adds some new elements to the mysteries. With the digital camera came pictures of “orbs” and this is one of the big elements of our time.

I don’t know about aliens and cows getting mutilated (haven’t heard anything about this recently) but the paranormal is DEF. real. I’ve experienced “shadow people” in my old apartment. Google it. It is VERY real…I’m not sure what they are or where they come from, but they come in all shapes and sizes and do NOT like to be seen. They say as the world nears the end and as time winds down the diff. dimensions merge more and more, which may be why more people now-a-days are reporting sightings.

I do think that some of it can be this that you speak of because some things are really far out, and some hear others say these things and get the idea in their had to exploit the idea for attention or for fame or money as well. But ghosts seem real, and with both ghosts and ufos these things have pretty much been reported everywhere, all over the world and throughout cultures. Now how can that be, what a strange coincidence. But there are no coincidences…

Personally, I believe that our universe is entirely too big to think that we’re the ONLY planet with intelligent life on it.
And ghosts do exist.
cows? not a clue. I personally don’t believe that any lifeform intelligent enough to make a space ship that can travel here from whatever planet they come from (which won’t be in OUR galaxie, because in our galaxy, we’re the only planet with human lifeforms on it) to earth can’t possible be so cruel as to kidnap cows and mutilate them. Truly intelligent beings, in my opinion, have respect for all life forms.

Yeah, cows are being mutilated. Is by aliens? I doubt it. Why would they? If these beings are so advanced, i doubt that they would need to come to earth to slice and dice our livestock. I cannot speak for other ppl, or convince them something is real, as in in ghosts. I can only speak for myself, and I know they exsist. I have seen, heard and dealt with them all my life, and so have many many others, and plenty more who won’t admit it. I don’t have to see something to believe in it. I can’t see gravity, I can’t see molocules. But i know they exsist. People will believe whatever they want, no matter what evidence you may produce. And yea, some ppl are just crazy, lol.They are just seeking attention or notoriety. I never saw a UFO, but as I said, seeing is not everything, to many reliable, sane ppl have seen them. Besides, are our ego’s so huge we can say there is no other intelligent life anywhere? Unfortunately the media will take any story that might make them a buck or two, which discredits those of us who believe. They make all look like a bunch of loons. I myself don’t give a fat flying…flip…what anyone else thinks. I am content with the knowledge I have.

Well I want to say first that each person must examine all information and evidence for themselves and draw your OWN conclusions.There is a ton of evidence out-there to support paranormal phenomena and there are a ton of hoaxers out there as well,the fact that there is hoaxing going on does not negate the actual evidence of paranormal phenomena.In a court of law you can be convicted of a crime by circumstantial evidence,and eye witness testimony,you don’t need direct evidence to be sent to the big house.All these so called skeptics do not fit the definition of a true-skeptic,most of these so called skeptics would not believe in an alien even if they met one face to face,or a spirit directly contacted them they would just blow it off,but these are hardened dis-believers (not true skeptics) who will not look at things objectively they are hardened in their beliefs and it is usually out of either fear of that which they can’t explain,or pure ignorance/arrogance,or it just don’t fit their idea of what the world should look like,or they are just plain stupid,but they have the right to dis-believe.There are a plethora of very intelligent people who believe in the paranormal and are very credible,sane people.Just recently the catholic church sanctioned belief in aliens,and the british government is now releasing a ton of de-classified info on ufo’s.Yes there are people hyping and hoaxing ghosts and ufo’s for their own advantage that is true but as I said before it does not negate all the real evidence.Plus any true paranormal investigator like myself will tell you 90% of the objects in the sky are not alien spaceships,and that most shadows,noises,orbs,groans,growls,doorsl… and bumps in the night are not paranormal activity,and yes people do drugs and hallucinate and yes there are also people who are mentally ill also but that does not negate true paranormal phenomena.Yes there are alot of t.v. shows out there that appeal to impressionable personality types but that does not mean that they are the only one’s who watch it,actually disbelievers watch these shows more than actually believers.Cow mutilations I think was U.S. military covert operations doing experimentation not UFO’s but that is a calculated guess based on all I’ve read and seen.Anyway I hope this helps you a little but in the end you have to come to your own conclusions.Goodluck.

well with aliens.
i believe there is other life out there because this universe is definatly to small for us to be the only ones. but i dont believe they are really what people make them to be.
ooh and spirits/ghost/entities. whatever you wanna call them. they are defaintly here, i see them all the time and i hear them and communicate with them. im defainatly not crazy because im not the only one. im juts more open to my 6th sense.

Faith is believing what you can’t see. Or so some say.
For me, I have seen ghosts. I have not seen aliens from outerspace (although some of the people on the internet get really close-heh). So I am pretty sure that I’m not crazy.
Therefore, I think people who say they see ghosts are not crazy.

YES all this stuff is real, none of it’s made up. If someone was making it up, we’d call HIM crazy, not go along with it. The signs are everywhere, be a bit more open minded and open your eyes-you’ll never believe what’s there.

Its real. Most people go charging thru life & don’t have time to see or notice paranormal events. There are many who see but refuse to believe what they’ve seen with their own eyes! It’s real.

I believe that UFO’s are real b/c there has to be more life in the universe. I have wondered that ghosts are angels traveling to earth and thats what Virgin Mary saw.