re: Never saw Deep Space Nine.....
I'm waiting for hard evidence. Personally, I think there is a lot of wishful thinking by a lot of people in that area. We've been cut off from our traditional methods of feeling connected to the Cosmos by religion and science, and in an effort to "feed the need", take an alternate route to feel connected.
For some of us, looking at the stars is sufficient. But not for all. The Universe has to be personalized. Living in an existence that could not care one way or the other about those little, noisy bugs on that tiny blue rock is quite frightening. We want and need a Cosmic Mommy/Daddy figure, even if he/she/it only exists in our minds.