Teen Alien Encounter - Trust No One! Published on Metropolitan Library System (

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1 Teen Alien Encounter - Trust No One! [1] Posted by: Reagan Kloiber on Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 [2] "The truth is out there," may be one of greatest tag lines in sci-fi television history, thanks to the popularity of the hit TV show, the X-Files. In one way it could mean that the truth is "out there," in the sense that the truth is so outlandish, so crazy, that it's completely unbelievable but in the end it is the truth no matter how far-fetched. Or it could mean that the truth is "out there" somewhere in the universe just waiting to be discovered, if we want to devote our hard earned time to searching for it. Perhaps (and I suspect), it is a bit of both, or at least that s what all of the films, books, and music devoted to aliens have led us to believe. The belief and non-belief in alien life forms is one of the greatest mysteries humans love to ponder. Are they out there? If they were to pay us Earthlings a visit, would they come in peace? If we went to their planets would they be hostile? Welcoming? Do they want to eat us? Love us? Or do they simply just want us gone? Will they come all at once, or in surges like in The 5th Wave? Will they ever even come at all? The possibilities are endless and can go on forever in our endless imaginations. Bring your favorite alien invasion scenario along with your creativity to the Teen Alien Encounter program, 4:00pm, January 21 at the Edmond Library [3]. Join us for UFOthemed snacks, crafts, and discussions. And in the meantime, explore some of the library's outof-this-world resources (and some of my all time favorite extraterrestrial adventures) and brush up on your own alien knowledge! Page 1 of 6

2 [4] The 5th Wave [4] by Rick Yancey "Wave 1: Darkness. Wave 2: Destruction. Wave 3: Infection. Wave 4: Invasion." From novel to film The 5th Wave is one of the newest alien invasion phenomenon stories to hit the market. It's a scenario that is not unfamiliar to science fiction fans (the hostile alien coming to destroy all of mankind to gain control of our planet), but it is freshly told through the eyes of teenagers, which gives it a whole new coming of age perspective. It is a story not only about aliens, but also about survival, fear, trust and about realizing that thanks to emotions and love, humanity is perhaps not so easy to get rid of in the end. And speaking of teenage love, it is found in both familiar and in the strangest of places in this story. Think, aliens as the ultimate "bad boy" while simultaneously also being the sweet "boy next door." I mean, perhaps some of them are just as confused as we are? Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars [5] by David Bowie "There's a starman waiting in the sky, He'd like to come and meet us" [5] Page 2 of 6

3 How could we talk about anything out of this world without mentioning the late and great David Bowie? His album The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust is a brilliant concept album featuring David Bowie as his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust who comes to us Earthlings as a messenger from extraterrestrials to help save the world from itself. The rock n' roll "truth" that David Bowie sings about may be to some, in context, "out there," but this album went on to become one of his most popular, a fantastic blend of science fiction, glam rock fantasy, artistic creativity and pure rock n' roll. Besides the songs on this album David Bowie has written and performed many songs dealing with topics of space, such as, "Space Oddity", "Moonage Daydream", "Born in a UFO" and many more. Do yourself a favor and give them all a listen in tribute to one of the great rock n' roll singers of all time. Also be sure to look up, The Man Who Fell to Earth, a 1976 film featuring David Bowie as an alien posing as a human. The Blob [6] "Indescribable! Indestructable! Nothing can stop it!" [6] In the age of high tech advanced life alien beings, The Blob, from 1958, seems a bit ridiculous and laughable at first glance. I mean, think about an oozing gelatinous blob that came from a fallen meteorite. Sounds silly by today s standards, right? But look at it another way. Shot mostly at night, The blob is about an otherworldly creature that feeds upon a small country town, devouring movie theater employees and old men, becoming bigger and bigger while the teenagers of the town have to work hard to get any of the adults to believe them. Complete with shy 1950s make out points, cool cars, drag races, a young Steve McQueen, a cutesy opening credits tune, and a town in fear for their lives, The Blob is a 1950s horror cult classic that shouldn t be missed! Page 3 of 6

4 [7] Off the Beaten Path New Mexico [7] "UFO Capital of the World" Located in Chaves County in southeastern New Mexico lies the small art community town of Roswell. Now if you know anything about aliens and government alien conspiracies then you have heard of Roswell, and the "Roswell Incident, and if you haven t then now is the time because this is the stuff sci-fi movies are made from, as supposed remnants from a UFO crash were found near the Roswell Army Airfield! The government denies it but perhaps we should all plan a trip to this small desert city, stroll along its streets lined with UFO streetlights (yes! they really do have those!!!) and come to our own conclusions. Roswell is home to the International UFO Museum and Research Center and host to the annual Roswell UFO Festival held every July 4th weekend. The Byrds Greatest Hits [8] by The Byrds [8] "Must be those strangers that come every night, those saucer shaped lights put people uptight" In 1966, the American rock band, The Byrds (whose band members have included legendary Page 4 of 6

5 rock performers such as David Crosby and Gram Parsons) put out an album entitled, The Fifth Dimension. While the entire album was not dedicated to aliens or outer space, the album did feature two science fiction based songs, one entitled, "5 D" (a folky psychedelic song about the universe and other dimensions), and the other, "Mr. Spaceman", a catchy little 1960s tune about the existence of aliens and possible communication with them. You can check out The Byrds Greatest Hits [9] album, featuring the song, "Mr. Spaceman" at your local library. [10] Flight of the Navigator [10] "David is eight years late for dinner... and the U.S. Government wants to know why." While Flight of the Navigator may be a Disney movie geared toward the younger generation, it is definitely a movie worth watching for all ages. The film came out in 1986, and like most 80s movies, you can absolutely tell that it came from that era of huge first generation computers, NASA baseball caps, and early MTV sightings, but the film itself still speaks to audiences today. It is a film about imagination and adventure, of a boy who goes missing for 8 years and awakens around the same time that a UFO is discovered. It will leave you longing for fun and a space exploration adventure - all set to a 1980s soundtrack. A few fun facts about this film is that it stars famous Hollywood actors such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Henry Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) as the voice of the alien spacecraft. Alien [11] [11] "In space no one can hear you scream" Lastly, one cannot talk about aliens without including the film of all ALIEN films, the 1979 movie, aptly titled, Alien. Not only does this film hold a special place in my heart for personal reasons, it is also one of the first scary science fiction films that I recall seeing. It's a dark film featuring truly terrifying aliens, born from the wonderfully disturbing imagination of artist, H.R. Giger. With Giger's alien dreams mixed in with now famous campy death scenes and a strong female protagonist this film is a must see of the alien horror genre. The Alien franchise went on to feature 3 sequels, a few alien/predator spinoffs and most recently a prequel. Page 5 of 6

6 Audience: All Ages [12] Library: All Libraries [13] Tags: Books [14] Music [15] Movies [16] Readers' Advisory [17] Library Programs [18] Blog Category: Article Source URL: Links [1] [2] Teen%20Alien%20Encounter%20web.jpg?itok=nQOTZ8J4 [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] Page 6 of 6