UFO!

SpongeBob SquarePants: UFO!
© Paramount Global
Author:	Adam Beechen
Illustrator:	Zina Saunders
Content:	X pages
Language:	English
Rating:	General
Publishing/Release Date:	January 25, 2005
Based on:	The television series SpongeBob SquarePants
Preceded by:	Camp SpongeBob
Followed by:	Happy Birthday, SpongeBob!

UFO! is a Ready-To-Read book based and modeled on SpongeBob SquarePants by SpongeBob fan Adam Beechen and illustrated by Zina Saunders. It was released on January 25, 2005.

Plot

One morning, SpongeBob wakes up and greets Patrick. Squidward orders them to be quiet from his window, but then as Squidward shouts, the world suddenly turns dark. A shadow blocks the sunlight from Bikini Bottom. Worried that aliens are invading Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob summons the citizens of Bikini Bottom to his house to investigate. The citizens conclude the UFO theory and prepare to hide or get defense against the aliens invading the city. However, Sandy claims that there are no such thing as aliens. To prove it and find out what is blocking the sunlight, Sandy, SpongeBob and Patrick go on her rocket to investigate it. They launch and go up into the sky out of the shadow. They then see and meet creatures never existing in the undersea world.

Meanwhile, back in town, Squidward thinks the citizens are being fools and tries to practice his clarinet. However, when he sees the shadow getting darker, he gets worried and hides under his bed. Eventually, the three in the rocket find the shadow’s source, which happens to be an old friend of the citizens': Stan the Mantaray. Stan tells them that he returned from college to visit Bikini Bottom but could not remember where he used to live and patrolled over the city causing the shadow. They help Stan find his home and then take him to the ground to reunite the town with Stan. To spend the time happily, the citizens play Hide-And-Seek with Stan for two weeks. However, Squidward does not notice the party and thinks the shadow is still there; he is so scared that he decides to indefinitely live under his bed causing him to miss Stan’s visit.

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Sandy Cheeks
• Squidward Tentacles
• Mr. Krabs
• Stan the Mantaray
• Pearl Krabs
• Citizens of Bikini Bottom

Trivia

• As of now, Stan has never appeared in the TV show.
• This could be a proposed sequel to Sandy’s Rocket but this story hasn’t appeared in the show as an episode.
• This story is one of the rare times where Squidward fails to realize threats until he sees it himself or until it gets worse. It is also one of the rare times where Squidward ends up believing the citizens' stupid ideas.
• Riding rockets make Patrick hungry.
• Patrick misunderstands the rules of safety such as when he buckles in his sandwiches instead of himself when ordered.
• This is also one of the only times where SpongeBob does not go down the wrong path on a mission like in "Sandy’s Rocket" when SpongeBob ruins Sandy’s trip to the Moon by stealing her rocket to hunt aliens which happens to be the citizens of Bikini Bottom.