I Have Never Seen a Flying Saucer
When I was a kid, we used to camp out a lot. This usually was no more than lying in a friend's backyard under the starry night sky. There was little or no sleep, as our main goal was to lie awake all night watching for UFOs. For us, anything that we didn't readily identify as an airplane was, without a doubt, a UFO. It had to be. If we didn't know what it was and it was flying across the sky, it was an Unidentified Flying Object. And we saw lots of them. Most were likely nothing more than a plane load of folks on a red eye from Dallas to Atlanta or some such destination. Many were undoubtedly satellites since this was, in fact, during the early years of space exploration. Not once did we see anything that was really and truly inexplicable, but in our minds each was evidence of extraterrestrial beings looking for a place to land. Had to be.
As an adult I have spent countless nights sitting in a boat staring at heaven waiting for a fish to bite. Honestly there is no better way to watch the night sky short of sitting at the base of the 200 inch Hale telescope on Mt. Palomar. On a large lake your view is totally unobstructed in every direction. I've seen a million meteors, but not one lousy flying saucer. And it's the perfect setting. You know, a couple of fishermen in Mississippi out at night. Isn't that the way it usually works?
Anyway, one morning as I was driving to work my luck kind of changed. I didn't see a flying saucer, but I did see a unique UFO. There was a very low ceiling of maybe 300 feet and it had been raining for most of the night. It was a few minutes before daybreak when suddenly I spotted an object flying at low altitude across the sky from my left to the right. I only saw it for a split second, but its shape was distinctive. It appeared to be less than twenty feet long, black in color, no lights of any type and made no loud noise. Actually, it was shaped like a boogie board with little winglets. I nearly broke my neck trying to follow it as it passed overhead and behind the buildings to the right side of the road. I was very near a small airport at the time, however it was highly unlikely that it could have been a plane considering the fog situation, its low altitude and angle with the runway. My first thought, due to its odd shape, was that it could be a cruise missile. I know that's ridiculous, but that is what the shape immediately brought to mind. I even watched to the right of the roadway for the flash of an explosion. Luckily none occurred.
I have absolutely no idea what it was. Perhaps some new classified stealth aircraft or the like. Maybe the bottom of a powerless Cessna hell bent on landing. I don't think it was an "alien spacecraft". But you know what? I'm perfectly content not knowing. I've told several people about it and only one put on an act that I was crazy. Here's what I do know. The folks that so quickly deny the possibility of UFOs have never spent time sitting out in the damp night air, listening to mosquitoes land on their ears, getting a crick in their neck admiring infinity in all its splendor. The pale, pearly swath of the Milky Way. The fiery streaks and occasional explosions of meteors as they gloriously end their treks across space. The moon as it rises blood red and reaches a crescendo in a glow so bright you have to squint your eyes when you try to see heaven. If you ever do this, you'll realize we're no more than a speck in the ocean of time and space. I just don't have the arrogance or audacity to think we are "it".
As an adult I have spent countless nights sitting in a boat staring at heaven waiting for a fish to bite. Honestly there is no better way to watch the night sky short of sitting at the base of the 200 inch Hale telescope on Mt. Palomar. On a large lake your view is totally unobstructed in every direction. I've seen a million meteors, but not one lousy flying saucer. And it's the perfect setting. You know, a couple of fishermen in Mississippi out at night. Isn't that the way it usually works?
Anyway, one morning as I was driving to work my luck kind of changed. I didn't see a flying saucer, but I did see a unique UFO. There was a very low ceiling of maybe 300 feet and it had been raining for most of the night. It was a few minutes before daybreak when suddenly I spotted an object flying at low altitude across the sky from my left to the right. I only saw it for a split second, but its shape was distinctive. It appeared to be less than twenty feet long, black in color, no lights of any type and made no loud noise. Actually, it was shaped like a boogie board with little winglets. I nearly broke my neck trying to follow it as it passed overhead and behind the buildings to the right side of the road. I was very near a small airport at the time, however it was highly unlikely that it could have been a plane considering the fog situation, its low altitude and angle with the runway. My first thought, due to its odd shape, was that it could be a cruise missile. I know that's ridiculous, but that is what the shape immediately brought to mind. I even watched to the right of the roadway for the flash of an explosion. Luckily none occurred.
I have absolutely no idea what it was. Perhaps some new classified stealth aircraft or the like. Maybe the bottom of a powerless Cessna hell bent on landing. I don't think it was an "alien spacecraft". But you know what? I'm perfectly content not knowing. I've told several people about it and only one put on an act that I was crazy. Here's what I do know. The folks that so quickly deny the possibility of UFOs have never spent time sitting out in the damp night air, listening to mosquitoes land on their ears, getting a crick in their neck admiring infinity in all its splendor. The pale, pearly swath of the Milky Way. The fiery streaks and occasional explosions of meteors as they gloriously end their treks across space. The moon as it rises blood red and reaches a crescendo in a glow so bright you have to squint your eyes when you try to see heaven. If you ever do this, you'll realize we're no more than a speck in the ocean of time and space. I just don't have the arrogance or audacity to think we are "it".
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