A common argument amongst the historians is about when the UFO and Alien craze actually began. Purists believe that the first encounter was around 500 B.C. when we had the first reports of a man named Ezekiel claiming to have witnessed a wheel of fire descending from the heavens. Some cite H.G Wells and his vision of interplanetary war and Martian invasion as the Victorian-age beginning of Alien lore. Still others believe that UFO culture began in the late 1940’s with a report by a pilot of a mysterious aircraft that triggered numerous similar reports from all over the United States. Whenever it began, authors have been imagining very interesting things to write about in their alien books.

NEW The War of the Worlds - Wells, H. G. ...    US $29.95

War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells was the first true appearance of invading aliens in writing. Though not typical fare, the message in this science fiction fantasy was clear; the aliens were winning due to incredible technologically advanced weaponry, weapons of mass destruction and unmerciful use of chemical weapons. This was a book full of carnage and calamity. There were detailed descriptions of cities reduced to rubble and decimated armies with corpses strewn about. The invading Martians were using tanks with three legs and heat rays. This was the beginning, and most probably the inspiration for other alien books to come.

The UFO panic created by the War of the Worlds-inspired radio broadcast in 1938 and narrated by Orson Welles is probably one of the main reasons that authors began writing their alien books. Thousands of listeners were terrified by the seemingly real news reports of a terrible alien invasion and this, along with the alien invasion meme planted into to Western culture by the book, began the distinctly American alien panic that would echo through the years and into today’s pop culture. Besides alien books, there are now movies and television programs, comic books and conventions that allow us to express our vision of life on other planets and the contradiction in our hope that we may one day get to meet them face-to-face and the fear that we actually might see that happen.

But, alien books aren’t limited to fictional writing. There are a number of books that capture the imagination with tales of the unexplained and even others that attempt to prove the existence of aliens and UFO’s, citing reports, studies and sightings. There are books that present data such as the shapes of flying saucers and the coloring of lights, their purposes and what they mean. There are books dedicated to breaking the truth about government conspiracies regarding alien technology and research into flying saucers. There are even groups that study the Bible in search of clues about ancient alien visitors and UFO sightings. The phenomenon has grown to encompass the entire world.

Monsters vs. Aliens Mad Libs, Leonard Stern, Roger Pric    US $5.95

HUMAN TO HUMAN~Rebecca Ore~BECOMING AN ALIEN Trilogy    US $1.00

Lucasfilm's Alien Chronicles by Deborah Chester PB new    US $2.45

Max Disaster #1: Alien Eraser to the Rescue, Marissa Mo    US $3.48

Whatever your interest might be on the subject of extra-terrestrial life, you can be sure that there is plenty of information to be had and opinions to mull over in the form of alien books.

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While the vast majority of the reports of strange objects in our skies have been explained as some natural occurrence or object, there are still some that have defied all attempts to debunk or refute the event. One such sighting occurred May 11, 1950 at a farm near McMinnville, Oregon.

Mrs. Evelyn Trent was walking back to her house after feeding some of the livestock when she noticed what appeared to be a metal, disk shaped object moving slowly in her direction from the northeast. She called for her husband Paul, to come see the object as well. After witnessing the strange object, Mr. Trent went back into the house and got his camera. He was able to take two photographs of the object before it picked up speed and disappeared into the west. The speed of its departure was enough to cause Mrs. Trent's dress to rustle in its wake.

The Trent's, along with Mrs. Trent's father who lived next door, all saw the object. They described the flying object as being about thirty-foot across and silvery-bright mixed with bronze. The object had a flat bottom surface and was completely soundless.

The Trents believed what they had seen was most likely some unknown Army vehicle and did not get overly excited at the time. It was in fact some time before Mr. Trent even had the film developed. When he mentioned it to his banker friend, Frank Wortmann, the banker got him to allow the photos to be displayed in the bank's front window. There they drew the curiosity of a local reporter, Bill Powell, who convinced Mr. Trent to loan the negatives to him.

Thus began an odyssey in which the negatives were extensively examined and repeatedly published. It was during their publication in "Life" magazine in July of 1950 that the negatives were misplaced and remained lost for seventeen years in their photo archives. Once rediscovered, the negatives were again studied for indications of forgery. The astronomer and investigator for the Condon Committee UFO Research Project, William Hartmann, determined the photos genuine and one of the best examples of an unknown object being witnessed and photographed.

While the skeptics, Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer, tried to debunk the photographs in the 1980's, their own analysis was subsequently shown to be flawed and biased. The McMinnville UFO photographs have continued for sixty years to be beyond anyone's ability to explain just what it was that passed over the Trent's farm that fateful day in 1950.

Alien abductions, flying saucers and extraterrestrials. Are they just fantasy or realty? Either of the ways it is a realm that many people take seriously. Now there is a dedicated semi scientific area of research for these unidentified flying objects known as Ufology. Nevertheless, it is an exciting filed. The main research started only after the Second World War when there was a sudden spurt in the sightings of UFO’s. Since then, many scientists and astronomers believe that these so called sightings are just related to whether patterns and astronomical events like meteor events, hot air balloons or military planes. But there are many people in this world who believe that these sightings have got something to do with extra terrestrials.

Nowadays you will find many stories and legends related to UFO sightings and aliens. Besides the witnesses there are many fixed evidences about the UFO’s which were filmed or photographed.

It was this UFO theory that gave birth to many other theories like aliens landing from other planets and flying saucers as vehicles for falling angels etc.

The first major video footage of UFO’s was made in 1994 when during the war the allied pilots encountered what they call “enemy weapons” or “foo fighters”. One of the most notable and investigated incident of UFO sighting is the famous Roswell incident which happened in the year 1947. The people living in New Mexico City saw a disc like object flying in the sky. This was a usual UFO sighting however the army further mystified this by saying that an UFO has crashed in Roswell and debris and bodies or aliens were discovered, however almost immediately the army issued another contradictory statement claiming that they had made a mistake in identifying the object and it was a hot air balloon and not an UFO. Now who will believe that a well equipped and sophisticated army like this, will mistake a hot air balloon as an UFO. Many say that U.S army is hiding some really very important facts, other say that they are experiment something big, the truth however nobodies know.

In each of the case both sides, the skeptics and the believers have evidences supporting their own claims. Those who believe in aliens and UFO’s cite some facts that cannot be logically explained. And those who are skeptical offer their explanation with their supporting evidences. Now it is up to you to decide that which side is right and which is wrong.