Angel of Ioren
Friendly Skeptic
Perhaps. Then again, it is well known Reagan was obsessed with the idea of extraterrestrials. There's that famous speech at the UN summit, and it is said he was always asking his staff members to include the "invaders from outer space" tidbit in his speeches.
No clearer evidence could be found about his personal interest on the subject, than the fact that Spielberg was asked to show the film for him on a special projection at the White House
He was using that as a metaphor in his UN speech.