I totally agree with you that the idea of aliens in flying saucers is just too simplistic. I mean, if they're advanced enough to travel through space, why would they need a clunky metal craft like that? Maybe they're just using it as a decoy, and their actual bodies are made of some sort of energy or consciousness. Or they're just really into retro aesthetics...

And I do like the idea of communication through metaphor. They could be speaking in a language that we haven't quite learned yet. Kind of like when my mom texts me in all emojis and I have to decipher what she's saying ^^