h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Reading the series of books by Albert Rosales, it is interesting to me that the powers of these beings is replicated in science fiction films and television series: invisibility, time travel, ships bigger on the inside than the outside, beings able to materialize and de-materialize, teleportation, telepathy, ability to change shape at will and much more besides is mentioned, so are these physically real beings or is this something like Victorian seance room apparitions? Paranormal abilities for instance or is this like Arthur C Clarke said, advanced technology appearing like magic because we are so much behind it? Are they guiding us forward through time, by leaving clues in our fictional material? If they are telepathic, are they guiding our knowledge of reality (see Grant Cameron's book on Insights, for how remarkable some of our leaps forward in science and the arts seem)?