I use a dedicated thermal camera with bit higher resolution but higher FPS. As others have written they are quite useful as you see thing (even not ET) you could have measured with an IR thermometer if you knew they were there.
That's silly. The real reason is that the ITAR prohibits you from being able to get a higher-resolution thermal camera, which is one of several laws implementing a complex, global ban on technologies that would let regular people spot the aliens. You can thank a secret UN subcommittee for that; they've botched negotiations with aliens so badly that our governments are now forced to do the "hiding from people" work for them.
i dont even get a blip when looking at airplanes with my thermal camera