A wide-ranging account of the twenty-first century’s fascination with the weird. Twenty-first-century fiction and theory have taken a decidedly weird turn. They both show a marked interest in the nonhuman and in the preternatural moods that the nonhuman often evokes. Writers of fiction and criticism are avidly experimenting with strange, even alien perspectives and protagonists. Kate Marshall’s Novels by Aliens explores this development broadly while focusing on problems of genre fiction. She identifies three key generic hybrids that harness a longing for the nonhuman: the old weird, an alternative tradition within naturalism and modernism for the twenty-first century’s cowboys and aliens; cosmic realism, the reach for words legible only from space in otherwise terrestrial narratives; and pseudoscience fiction, which imagines speculative futures beyond human life on earth. Offering sharp and surprising insights about a breathtaking range of authors, from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Kazuo Ishiguro, Willa Cather to Maggie Nelson, Novels by Aliens tells the story of how genre became mood in the twenty-first century.

This comprehensive book, written and updated over a period of 43 years with hundreds of references, will appeal to both beginners and experts, skeptics and believers, as well as to fans of Science-Fiction, aviation, students of Psychology, Sociology, Psychiatry plus those interested in psychic experiences and those interested in NASA, CIA and US military coverups of UFO evidence. Foreword by Nick Pope, of Britain’s “X files”. Topics include: summary of findings and evidence from 75 years of UFOlogy; dozens of classic and recent cases which still defy skeptical explanations; 13 famous cases that have been explained or exposed as hoaxes; many government coverups; possible Nazi-Roswell-Avro-CIA connections; psychic aspects, Carl Jung etc.; Hysterical Contagion (Mass Hysteria); the Rendlesham Forest case (triangular craft seen, touched and sketched by a US Air Force security sergeant, and witnessed taking off from the forest by him and another); the famous Roswell case; Shag Harbour USO case and other USO (Unidentified Submerged Object) cases; Belgium case; the recent shoot down of a UFO in Pentyrch England – beginning of a human-alien war? the huge subliminal influence science-fiction movies, TV shows, books, and comics have had on UFO sightings and encounters; origin of the Men in Black; missing time; the technology of flying saucers, including possible propulsion systems; airships of 1890-1912: mass hysteria, UFOs or actual early dirigibles (Zeppellns)? The religion aspect (aliens function as a new mythology / belief system for many); witches (yesteryear's aliens?) Angels v. Aliens; recent US Navy sightings and disclosure in the US and other nations; the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and Luis Elizondo, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (2020) Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (2021). ABDUCTIONS (a) UFO Neurosis - a new psychiatric diagnosis for some people who believe that they have been kidnapped by space aliens; (b) Some “alien abductions” are actually "screen memories" of sexual assaults, usually committed by family members or trusted friends; (c) Above applied to the famous Barney and Betty Hill case and to a few others; (d) A different hypothesis applying psychologist Julian Jaynes' 1976 theory about the bicameral mind to "experiencers" to suggest that some have bicameral brains like everyone did 4000 years, according to Jaynes; (e) One case that would stand up if it were tried at court (Pascagoula Mississippi).

Original Sin by Michael Jan Friedman Centuries after the death of the original Ellen Ripley, her clone has joined the fight against the Alien threat. With the help of an android named Call, a brutal hired gun named Johner, and a paraplegic mechanic named Vriess, she will battle an Alien horror, and discover the answer to a question that pierces the Alien mystery to its seething acid-chamber of a heart. DNA War by Diane Carey In a bleak galaxy, the hospitable planet Rosamond 6 is a rare find. But while it may look like an oasis among the stars, it harbors a fatal secret: it is infested with Aliens. Eager to prove her theory that the Aliens can be reasoned with, anthropologist Jocasta Malvaux has set up an observation post there. And something unexpected happens: the Aliens don't attack. But, why? Could it be that the monsters are evolving? Or is it a matter of time until every person on the planet must fight for their lives?

An indispensable resource, this book provides wide coverage on aliens in fiction and popular culture. The wide impact that the imagined alien has had upon Western culture has not been surveyed before; in many cases the essays in Aliens in Popular Culture are the first written on the topic. The book is a compendium of short entries on notable uses of aliens in popular culture across different media and platforms by almost 90 researchers in the field. It covers science fiction from the late nineteenth century into the twenty-first century, including books, films, television, comics, games, and even advertisements. Individual essays point to the ways in which the imagined alien can be seen as a reflection of different fears and tensions within society, above all in the Anglo-American world. The book additionally provides an overview for context and suggestions for further reading. All varieties of readers will find it to be a comprehensive reference about the extra-terrestrial in popular culture.

From religious beliefs and legends to movies and TV shows, from advertising and celebrities to Internet sites and photo ops, this illustrated A–Z encyclopedia makes it easy to locate each topic, and the opportunities for further research assure its timeliness. Is the human race the result of a breeding experiment carried out by ancient astronauts? Are satanists, extraterrestrials—or both—mutilating cattle? Whimsical and fascinating, UFOs and Popular Culture explores a rich facet of Americana and its impact on contemporary society. The UFO phenomenon is put into folkloric and psychological perspective, revealing much about our collective psyche. From religious beliefs and legends to movies and TV shows; from advertising and celebrities to Internet sites and photo ops; this illustrated A–Z encyclopedia is your first stop resource for understanding UFO beliefs and their impact on contemporary America. Topics explored include Music and UFOs, Naked Aliens, Reincarnation, Roswell, Brad Steiger, Heaven's Gate, War of the Worlds, and UFO Conventions.

In 1986, James Cameron's Aliens brought to theatres the horrors of a new kind of war against a terrifying enemy. Two years later, Dark Horse Comics released a direct follow-up to the events in the film. Years before any talk of a third Alien film, the comics series took fandom by storm, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Thirty years later, Dark Horse is still a valued partner of 20th Century Fox and joins them in celebrating the anniversary of Aliens with the release of this oversize collection of the original comics series.

In this comprehensive and interdisciplinary volume, former NASA Chief Historian Steven Dick reflects on the exploration of space, astrobiology and its implications, cosmic evolution, astronomical institutions, discovering and classifying the cosmos, and the philosophy of astronomy. The unifying theme of the book is the connection between cosmos and culture, or what Carl Sagan many years ago called the “cosmic connection.” As both an astronomer and historian of science, Dr. Dick has been both a witness to and a participant in many of the astronomical events of the last half century. This collection of papers presents his reflections over the last forty years in a way accessible to historians, philosophers, and scientists alike. From the search for alien life to ongoing space exploration efforts, readers will find this volume full of engaging topics relevant to science, society, and our collective future on planet Earth and beyond.