Fans pick 100 books like How UFOs Conquered the World

By David Clarke,

Here are 100 books that How UFOs Conquered the World fans have personally recommended if you like How UFOs Conquered the World. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers

Neil Nixon Author Of UFOs, Aliens and the Battle for the Truth: A Short History of UFOlogy

From my list on making you an expert on UFOs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing for publication since I was a student, crudely the writing has been a way of medicating the fact I’m incurably curious about a range of things and I’ve also suffered from an over-production of ideas my whole life. Wrestling this under control into writing and live speaking where the subjects must fit within a title, word limit, or running time for a talk has been helpful, beyond which the whole writing career has been a trade off between things I’ve chosen to do because they matter a lot to me, and the occasional accepting of an offer I thought too good to refuse.

Neil's book list on making you an expert on UFOs

Neil Nixon Why did Neil love this book?

Many books on this subject have dated, this title, first published in 1969 remains a classic and highly influential.

It argues that twentieth-century claims of UFO sightings and meetings with aliens fit a wider pattern taking in folklore and our history of strange encounters of all kinds.

A hugely influential book that has influenced a library’s worth of other writing but still an ideal beginners guide to anyone seeking to understand where the strangest modern-day claims might fit into the bizarre stories humans have been telling each other throughout history.

By Jacques Vallee,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Passport to Magonia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Our age has generated, and continues to generate, mythical material almost unparalleled in quantity and quality in the rich records of human imagination. More precisely, people have very frequently reported the observation of wonderful aerial objects, variously designated as flying saucers, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and so on. But investigators have neglected to recognize one important perspective of the phenomenon: the fact that beliefs identical to those held today have recurred throughout recorded history and under forms best adapted to the believer's country, race, and social regime.

Emissaries from these supernatural abodes come to earth, sometimes under human form and…


Book cover of American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology

Darren Campo Author Of Alex Detail's Revolution

From my list on young love confronting cosmic forces like UFOs and life after death.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love people who are totally lost because they are on the brink of their greatest discovery–their true nature. Even as a little boy I remember seeing that everyone has a purpose in life, but that is hidden to them. I have always felt that every step of the way, life seems to be a little off-track. But through authentic stories, I came to an understanding that right now, everyone is doing great things with their lives, even if they can’t see it.

Darren's book list on young love confronting cosmic forces like UFOs and life after death

Darren Campo Why did Darren love this book?

This is the real-life account of a professor who gets caught up in “The Phenomena,” a term used to describe the appearance and interaction with extraterrestrial activity and encounters.

Diana Pasulka is a professor of religious studies who is researching the similarities between encounters with angels and demons, which are very similar in description to encounters with aliens and UFOs. Professor Pasulka is blindfolded and driven by a NASA scientist to a desert in New Mexico, where she is shown a secret  “UFO crash site.”  She doesn’t believe any of it. She says the ground is covered for miles by deteriorating aluminum cans that the government placed there over fifty years ago to obscure the UFO crash site and hide it. Later, her friend, Dr. Gary Nolan, a Stanford University scientist, verifies the objects from the crash site are not from this “universe.” 

I love this book because it is…

By D. W. Pasulka,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked American Cosmic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

More than half of American adults and more than seventy-five percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions.

Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, D.W. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens…


Book cover of UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here-and Out There

Neil Nixon Author Of UFOs, Aliens and the Battle for the Truth: A Short History of UFOlogy

From my list on making you an expert on UFOs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing for publication since I was a student, crudely the writing has been a way of medicating the fact I’m incurably curious about a range of things and I’ve also suffered from an over-production of ideas my whole life. Wrestling this under control into writing and live speaking where the subjects must fit within a title, word limit, or running time for a talk has been helpful, beyond which the whole writing career has been a trade off between things I’ve chosen to do because they matter a lot to me, and the occasional accepting of an offer I thought too good to refuse.

Neil's book list on making you an expert on UFOs

Neil Nixon Why did Neil love this book?

This is hefty, recent, authoritative, and well written (the author’s CV includes a Pulitzer Prize nomination).

Over a lengthy historic account, he spins the twin stories of the search by scientists for extraterrestrial life and the – usually – amateur search by ufologists for evidence to support their claims that aliens are already visiting us. Garrett Graff explores the contradictions.

He is clear and concise on the strength and weakness each side’s efforts, and insightful in those moments when both sides have briefly collaborated. For a beginner to the subject who wants the shortest route to becoming truly knowledgeable, this is the perfect primer.

By Garrett M. Graff,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked UFO as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Garrett M. Graff, New York Times bestselling author of Raven Rock, The Only Plane in the Sky, and Pulitzer Prize finalist for history Watergate, comes the first comprehensive and eye-opening exploration of our government's decades-long quest to solve one of humanity's greatest mysteries: Are we alone in the universe?

For as long as we have looked to the skies, the question of whether life on Earth is the only life to exist has been at the core of the human experience, driving scientific debate and discovery, shaping spiritual belief, and prompting existential thought across borders and generations. And yet,…


Book cover of The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs

Neil Nixon Author Of UFOs, Aliens and the Battle for the Truth: A Short History of UFOlogy

From my list on making you an expert on UFOs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing for publication since I was a student, crudely the writing has been a way of medicating the fact I’m incurably curious about a range of things and I’ve also suffered from an over-production of ideas my whole life. Wrestling this under control into writing and live speaking where the subjects must fit within a title, word limit, or running time for a talk has been helpful, beyond which the whole writing career has been a trade off between things I’ve chosen to do because they matter a lot to me, and the occasional accepting of an offer I thought too good to refuse.

Neil's book list on making you an expert on UFOs

Neil Nixon Why did Neil love this book?

Making sense of the varied claims of UFOs and aliens isn’t easy, it gets much harder if you dig into history and discover reports that don’t match the things reported today. This book brings clarity.

The biography of J Allen Hynek, arguably the most significant and influential ufologist who ever lived traces his journey from becoming involved in the field as a government-appointed sceptic brought into to explain away eye-witness accounts through his personal realisation that he was dealing with some phenomena he couldn’t dismiss or understand, to his later life as a tireless investigator into the truly strange and a campaigner for more serious investigation.

A unique life, and a great read partly because Hynek emerges as very human and likable.

By Mark O'Connell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Close Encounters Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The wildly entertaining and eye-opening biography of J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who invented the concept of "Close Encounters" with alien life, inspired Steven Spielberg's blockbuster classic science fiction epic film, and made a nation want to believe in UFOs. In June 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold looked out his cockpit window and saw a group of nine silvery crescents weaving between the peaks of the Cascade Mountains at an estimated 1,200 miles an hour. The media, the military, and the scientific community-led by J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer hired by the Air Force-debunked this and many other Unidentified Flying…


Book cover of Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds

Matthew Bowman Author Of The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America

From my list on understanding the UFO phenomenon.

Why am I passionate about this?

I remember as a child reading all sorts of books about spooky things like UFOs. When, as an adult, a scholar of religion, and academic I decided I wanted to write something about how technology and science and the Cold War impacted how Americans believed things, and what they believed in outside the boundaries of traditional religion, I remembered those books. I began poking around in the world of UFO sightings, reading both believers and academics like me fascinated by how this particular network of stories and beliefs have gotten such a chokehold on American popular culture. And I’ve found the rabbit hole just keeps going. 

Matthew's book list on understanding the UFO phenomenon

Matthew Bowman Why did Matthew love this book?

Vallee is perhaps the most respected researcher in the UFO community.

Holder of a PhD and a successful computer scientist, he began writing about UFOs while in graduate school, and has produced a string of books that have transformed conversations about UFOs among believers. He is perhaps the most influential opponent of the so-called “extraterrestrial hypothesis,” the common assumption that UFOs are spacecraft that have made the trip across the stars.

Rather, in this groundbreaking book Vallee draws comparisons between contemporary stories of UFOs and the reams of accounts of encounters with small otherworldly beings, glowing lights, and strange bendings in time and space that have permeated human folklore and religion for centuries.

Perhaps, Vallee suggests, UFOs are simply the most contemporary manifestation of a much stranger and older phenomenon than simply little green men from another planet.

By Jacques Vallee,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Passport to Magonia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over two decades ago, eminent scientist Vallee wrote a provocative book about alleged UFO landings, folklore, and certain unexplained phenomena. That long-out-of-print book--which discussed the most interesting reports of more than 1,000 apparently reliable witnessess--has become an underground classic and is now being reissued.


Book cover of Stories of Africa

Gail Nyoka Author Of Voices of the Ancestors: Stories & Lore From Ghana’s Volta Region

From my list on folktales from Africa.

Why am I passionate about this?

Once upon a time, I didn’t know any stories from Africa. I found one, and it stirred me to my core. I found others and read them to my children. These were oral stories that had been trapped between the covers of books. One day, I discovered the oral tradition – stories told as they were originally heard. They had been liberated from the page and flew into my heart. A storyteller was born in me. I went on my own journey to collect stories in Ghana. I now tell stories from traditions around the world.

Gail's book list on folktales from Africa

Gail Nyoka Why did Gail love this book?

This wonderful South African storyteller enchanted me when I heard her telling stories at the Toronto Storytelling Festival. I loved the empowering story, "Khethiwe, Queen of the Imbira", about a girl who defiantly plays an instrument claimed as the exclusive purview of men. Another is the story of a woman who must go to the depths of the ocean to bring the magic of stories to the world. These, with eight other beautifully told tales, are included in a colourfully illustrated book.

By Gcina Mhlophe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stories of Africa as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This folklore story collection offers a feast of enjoyment for young South African readers. Ten enchanting tales, steeped in the imaginative richness of African storytelling: Where did the first stories in the world come from? How did little Tortoise win the respect of all the other animals? Who was Nanana Bo Sele Sele and what happened when she built her house in the middle of the animals' road? Why was young Crocodile so determined to get hold of Monkey's heart? Told with inimitable aplomb by South Africa's most popular performance storyteller and illustrated by a lively selection of KwaZulu-Natal artistic…


Book cover of Amphigorey Too

Landis Blair Author Of The Envious Siblings: and Other Morbid Nursery Rhymes

From my list on morbidly whimsical illustrated stories.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an illustrator of books, comics, and various other things, but no matter what I illustrate I can’t seem to keep a certain darkness out of my drawings. For most of my life I have been attracted to the macabre. This attraction first emerged out of fear but later out of amusement. It is rather comical to see the amount of effort people are willing to expend in order to avoid thinking and talking about death. I find it far more healthy to acknowledge it everywhere while simultaneously having a good chuckle.  

Landis' book list on morbidly whimsical illustrated stories

Landis Blair Why did Landis love this book?

It would be impossible to create a list of morbidly whimsical books without including Edward Gorey, the uncontested master in this realm. While virtually any of Gorey’s books could be added to this list, his Amphigorey treasuries are the most efficient way for new readers to browse through his books. Since I must make a choice, however, I am selecting Amphigorey Too since this was the volume that introduced me to Gorey’s work when I was seventeen. Furthermore, it also contains a couple of my favourite Gorey tales: The Beastly Baby and The Inanimate Tragedy.

By Edward Gorey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Amphigorey Too as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This follow-up to the darkly humorous Amphigorey is wittier, more macabre, and more wondrous than ever. Master illustrator and iconic gothic storyteller Edward Gorey gives his fans 20 more nonsensically and mind-bending tales that draw fans and unsuspecting newcomers into a world only he can create. Gorey’s pen-and-ink drawings spur the imagination and satisfy fans of art and the good storytelling. 
 
Some of the 20 stories in this collection include:
“The Beastly Baby”
“The Pious Infant” 
“The Evil Garden”
“The Inanimate Tragedy”
“The Osbick Bird”
“The Deranged Cousins” 
“The Abandoned Sock”
“Story for Sara”
“A Limerick”


Book cover of A Wild Rose

Linda Ulleseit Author Of Unlocked: A Paper Lantern Writers Anthology

From my list on historical fiction anthologies.

Why am I passionate about this?

We are the Paper Lantern Writers, an author collective focused on historical fiction of all eras. From Medieval Europe to the Gilded Age (and beyond), in locales around the world, from romantic to tragic and back again, our books will take you on the journeys of a lifetime. There’s a story to be told every where you look and we'd love to be your tour guide. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, and join our Facebook group SHINE.

Linda's book list on historical fiction anthologies

Linda Ulleseit Why did Linda love this book?

Amazon’s Point in Time series is a unique approach to a collection of stories from seven well-respected historical novelists. Each story is available separately as a $.99 ebook, or on Kindle Unlimited as a free collection. A Wild Rose is one of my favorites because the fabulous Fiona Davis wrote it, and I have to read everything she writes.

By Fiona Davis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Wild Rose as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A troubled concert pianist searches for a new inspiration among the hidden back hallways of Carnegie Hall in bestselling author Fiona Davis’s bold short story of artistic ambition in 1950s New York.

World-renowned pianist Gloria Banderas is at the height of her career when a curious ailment forces her to cancel a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall. The same day, she befriends one of the many free-spirited artists inhabiting the warren of apartments above the theater. With her career and marriage at a standstill, Gloria moves into an empty studio and convalesces among the poets, photographers, and dancers who eke…


Book cover of The Naked World: A Tale with Verse

Alina Adams Author Of My Mother's Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region

From my list on Soviet historical fiction which skips the cliches.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born in Odessa, USSR, a Southern Ukrainian city that many more people know now than when my family and I immigrated in 1977. Growing up in the US, everything I read about Soviet immigrants was either cliched, stereotyped, or plain wrong. A 1985 short film, Molly’s Pilgrim, about a (presumably Jewish) Soviet immigrant girl showed her wearing a native peasant costume and a scarf on her head which, for some reason, Americans insisted on calling a “babushka.” “Babushka” means “grandmother” in Russian. Why would you wear one of those on your head? I was desperate for more realistic portrayals. So I wrote my own. And the five books I picked definitely offer them.

Alina's book list on Soviet historical fiction which skips the cliches

Alina Adams Why did Alina love this book?

Part poetry, part flash fiction; part memoir, part imagination; part history, part fantasy. The Naked World is like a dream, images, and snatches of phrases wrestle with fact and trauma. It’s a story of survival, it’s a story of suffering. It’s a story of immigration, it’s a story of remaining stuck. It’s ephemeral and it stays with you. Did it happen to you? To someone else? To all of us?

By Irina Mashinski,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Naked World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Naked World begins with Mashinski’s birth:“Stalin had been dead for 5 years 1 month and 4 days.” The concluding notes tell us that currently “38% of Russians consider Stalin the greatest man in history.” The eerily exact figures underline the survivor’s dilemma: do I live in the past and allow my identity to be determined by atrocities, or do I cling to the present and sanitize my own experience?

Mashinki’s response is a brilliant poet’s: “each time when you raise your eyes to the stars, you see the past, and each time when you raise your eyes to the…


Book cover of Harrow County Omnibus Volume 1

Mark Fearing Author Of Last Exit to Feral

From my list on horror I read again and again and again.

Why am I passionate about this?

One of the gifts of the horror genre is that the stories use metaphor to examine human behaviors that defy understanding. My favorite horror novels, novellas, and short stories can be read again and again. While my Feral graphic novel series is for middle school readers, I wanted to provide grey areas, perhaps more than the editor always liked! I wanted the adventure, the scares, the questions, the uncertainty that would let the small town of Feral take on a larger-than-life presence for a reader and encourage revisiting it whenever the mood strikes. It's almost pleasant, the rhythm, the anticipation. A little unnerving too.

Mark's book list on horror I read again and again and again

Mark Fearing Why did Mark love this book?

This is the only graphic novel/comic book on my list and it goes above and beyond in art and story.

I have enjoyed reading the Harrow County stories many times. I prefer the collected edition where you can take your time and read comic issues 1-16 of Darkhorse Comics Harrow County. The artwork pulls you in, and the story is filled with zippy turns and good dialogue.

It pulls from many of the books I've mentioned in building an early American horror story that heads off in multiple directions. I can smell the grass and trees, hear the click-clack of the horse-pulled carts, and taste autumn in the air while reading these books.

A topic for another time would be examining the different experiences when reading a graphic novel compared to a novel. The strengths and weaknesses, what exactly the illustrations add, but for a horror fan who has never…

By Cullen Bunn, Tyler Crook (illustrator), Carla McNeil (illustrator) , Hannah Lavender (illustrator) , Jenn Lee (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Harrow County Omnibus Volume 1 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first half of the highly acclaimed, Eisner-nominated horror fantasy tale, collected in a value-priced omnibus.

Emmy always knew that the woods surrounding her home crawled with ghosts and monsters. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she learns that she is connected to these creatures--and to the land itself--in a way she never imagined.

Collects issues 1-16 of Harrow County.


Book cover of Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers
Book cover of American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology
Book cover of UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here-and Out There

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