I think people were bound to be disappointed by whatever the Space Jockeys ended up being, just by the sheer fact that 33 years of speculating have passed. Much the same thing happened with the prequels, if you'll allow me to talk some heresy. I think you just have to deal with the fact the Scott never envisioned the Space Jockeys how you envisioned the Space Jockeys.

I myself was pleasantly surprised to learn that the elephant thing was merely a mask that was worn by one of our giant, white creators. Now I'm starting to sound sarcastic. But I'm really not.