AARON ECKHART and a handful of Marines saved us from fictional aliens in “Battle Los Angeles” in 2011? Is he still available? (Columbia Pictures).

Things are feeling a bit strange. After many, many alien invasion, UFO-sighting movies and TV series, we finally have some unidentified flying objects to worry about.

The comforting news is that we can actually shoot these things down. The not-so-comforting possibility is these objects (not the Chinese balloon) might just be some DUI spacemen lost on their way to Vulcan, suggesting that travel to Earth for some aliens is just one wrong cosmic offramp away.

Another way in which the ground seems to be shifting for us in the West Orange County area is in the departing of local stalwarts. Garden Grove City Manager Scott Stiles is leaving us for a similar job in Palm Springs. Ric Lerma, arguably Garden Grove’s most prominent private citizen, passed away recently after a sudden illness. Ron Roberts, who served as Garden Grove’s “fire chief” after the city joined the Orange County Fire Authority also recently died.

People come and go out of our lives, both geographically and spiritually, but some departures affect us more than others. When admired leaders depart, it tends to leave us with a feeling a little like a parent leaving. What will we do now? Who will provide for us?

The answer is simple, if momentarily unsatisfying. We step up. We try to fill those shoes or find someone that we think can. It’s our job now.

It’s not fair to lose people we rely on, but fairness has never been guaranteed. As the saying goes, “there’s no justice. There’s just us.”