7 Books Like The Only Plane in the Sky

A dry, witty, Nordic take on a heist gone wrong. Loved the characters and the writing. Read the book, it's much better than the TV adaptation.

Thoughtful Science Fiction! Ok, this book might get shelved as fantasy, but the fantastical elements are so well constrained by logical systems, and the underlying causes and behaviors of seemingly-magical events explored with such an investigative and scientific vigor, that I must call it science fiction! Woven throughout this adventure story of Tress’s search for her kidnapped love are funny and philosophical insights into the foibles of human nature and society. Tress in Wonderland perhaps? Tress’s Travels?

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.

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… show more.

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.

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.

A clear and well-argued account of how the planet became obsessed with stories of alien encounters and what they might mean to us.

An essential read for anyone curious about the subject largely because it considers the whole planet, not just the truly UFO-obsessed United States. It frequently presents the best and most challenging UFO cases with a clarity that gets to the heart of each claim, and never forgets that one thing driving the enduring popularity of the subject is that – whatever the truth behind each claim – we’re dealing with incredible claims that make for great stories.