A question about belief in aliens?

quite often i'll read questions, presumably from believers, asking atheists if they believe in atheists. my guess is that this is an attempt to get atheists to admit that believe in the irrational as well, since nobody has ever seen an alien. furthermore, i imagine this is an attempt to lump atheists in the same group of people who believe in alien abductions, thus making them unreliable. so my question to believers is this. when you ask atheists about whether they believe in aliens or not, do you find that our answers are not as far-fetched as you'd like them to be? indeed, if anyone came out and said they believe aliens exist without any evidence, i could see where you guys are coming from. but, from what i've read, the majority of atheists, if not all, say something to the effect of them believing in the possibility that aliens might exists. yet for some reason this is viewed by believers as being just as illogical as believing in aliens. why is that?