I doubt biological beings can ever travel the distance required to meet in person. I believe that there are fundamental laws to life that make life relatively short and that no matter where life develops, ecosystems balance life and death so that it can be sustainable.
If humans ever meet aliens, I think they will in the form or artificial life forms that long left their biological origins behind. They may not even travel in physical forms, but rather transmit their consciousness through energy and manifest their images as projections (if they even thought that was worth it). Or, they could even transmit their consciousness into other organisms to experience their world. It's not hard science of course, but there are meta-physical theories that brains can act as receivers and transmitters of consciousness. Physical travel would probably be so archaic to them. They could just live through your eyes and influence your actions without you even realizing.
Not that I think that is happening, but I find it more believable than vessels travelling through interstellar space.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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