The real scary thought isn't that they'd come to attack us and rule us. It's that they wouldn't care at all. They wouldn't care to even destroy us. We're simply not impressive or important to them. They're the main characters of their story just like humans are to theirs. They won't come here and give us technology for the same reason that you don't walk down the street and try to explain nuclear physics to pigeons. Now, if we got in their way they might swat us like we swat pests. But if you're that clever then there's not much in your way. They wouldn't need to come here to get resources, they would have figured out scarcity.

Even better: aliens appear but the only proof for it has to be provided by our top scientists and government officials. The proof becomes a piece of culture war that is never resolved ever again. We could never trust them about it yet they would have undeniable proof. They could want to tell us so bad and we couldn't, rightfully, believe them. We would get proof but it would be tainted by our own history and context.