A Field Trip to the Bookstore

An overly optimistic quest for some "UFO, Etc." books

With a long weekend of winter weather in the forecast, a few members from THE OBSERVER took a field trip to a local Barnes & Noble to peruse their selection of “UFO, Etc.” books.

If you haven’t visited this last bastion of corporate brick and mortar bookstores in a while, Barnes & Noble is that place you go to look at physical books before buying them at Amazon or Thriftbooks for half the price. (Or better yet—buy from an independent bookseller!)

The “fringier” books are kept in an out of the way location on the store’s second level, so we had to weave through a maze of tables piled high with copies of the latest Sarah J. Maas clone, Obsidian Tempest (bear in mind, we’ve never read any of these books, so our opinion has zero credibility). It turns out there are valid reasons why the first floor felt more like a Rebecca Yarros distribution center than a bookstore—over 2.7 million of them, in fact. These books helped the print industry rebound in 2024 after two straight years of declining sales. B&N did its part by moving 200k copies of the novel during the book’s first week (at $27.99 each, that’s over $5.3 million in sales).

B&N knows which side their bread is buttered on!

This made us curious about the current state of supernatural nonfiction and how its numbers stack up against a “romantasy” genre that leverages similar subject matter from a fictional perspective. Books like Yarros’ Basalt Blizzard include references to mythology, fairies, magick, and other topics that crossover into the realm of “real world” high strangeness.

By comparison, a highly-anticipated book in the nonfiction “UFO, Etc.” category—Luis Elizondo’s Imminent—barely managed to move 18,000 copies in its debut (although it did enjoy 2 weeks on the bestseller list). The hardcover edition has already found its way to discount retailers for under $12 bucks. The same is true for Diana Pasulka’s Encounters, another “UFO, Etc.” book that received a healthy amount of media attention and hype and is published by the same company that distributes Yarros’ Ebony Hurricane. Pasulka’s offering didn’t crack the Top 25 in any week since its release.

A sample of some of the more “mainstream” UFO, Etc. books published in the last few years. Doing our part as good little consumers who want to see more of these on the shelves!

All that is to say, there’s a reason that books about underwater alien bases and the hidden rituals of Freemasonry aren’t trotted out front and center. No one is impulse buying a copy of Manly P. Hall’s Secret Teaching of All Ages on their way to the cashier.

Indeed, the “UFO, Etc.” section in most bookstores can be tricky to find, especially if you’re not familiar with the secret code used by booksellers for “strange subjects we’re unsure how to classify.”

Sometimes they’re grouped under the generic “New Age,” or the unhelpful “Mind, Body & Spirit” header. One of our favorites (because it sounds so official) is “Metaphysical Studies.” This B&N location decided that they belonged on the bottom half of a shelf dedicated to “Self Transformation”—likely because their selection included such “self transformative” titles as Dark Fleet: The Secret Nazi Space Program and The Battle For The Solar System and Earth’s Galactic History and Its Extraterrestrial Connection.

Transform Yourself!

In any case, the inventory was anemic.

Bill Cooper’s Pale Horse was prominently featured, which is no surprise considering that 34 years after its first publication, it’s still listed among Amazon’s top 5 best selling “Occult & Paranormal” books.

Pasulka’s publisher lists her book as “Self-Help”

Pasulka’s aforementioned Encounters was on display and well-stocked. We’re not sure if that means it’s in demand, or not selling. The usual suspects were also in attendance—Sitchin’s 12th Planet, Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods, and a gaggle of Graham Hancock tomes absorbed most of the remaining shelf space.

FINGERPRINTS ON GOD’S CHARIOTS

The store’s website said it had copies of Elizondo’s Imminent in stock, but we never saw any. Maybe they were being kept on some other shelf labeled “Esoterica,” or “Alternative Religions.” Sadly, there were no John Keel, Ivan Sanderson, or Jacques Vallée volumes to be had.

We didn’t leave entirely empty-handed. B&N still carries a decent assortment of “industry trades” and there were multiple copies of the latest Fortean Times, Nexus, and World Explorer, (notably absent was FATE Magazine).

Coupla things, NEXUS. First, what’s with the image on the cover? The guy’s holding what appears to be a Topsy Tail that magically loops through his jacket. We also could have done without 9 pages about urine therapy (the doppelganger cover story was only 6 pages). But damn you really got us with this headline: “ALIENS SOURCE FREE QUANTUM MECHANICAL ENERGY IN UZBEKISTAN.”

We grabbed one of each, made a few more laps around the store to stare longingly at the same overpriced books, and headed for the exit just as the first flakes were filling the sky.

---

Are there any upcoming new releases that you’re excited for?

What was the last “UFOs, Etc.” book you read?

We love hearing from you!

---

Have a story to tell or theory to share? Let us know! We’d love to read your work and possibly feature it in a print edition of THE OBSERVER.

THE OBSERVER is a high strangeness zine. Click the image above to receive a free physical subscription.