UFOs—Always Around and Always Round

I’m reading a book entitled Earth by Timothy Good that investigates the existence of UFOs. It’s not a bad book. I’m reading it because I’m fed up to my gills with the misinformation being floated about by so-called climate scientists and just about any other scientist for that matter. I’ve decided to branch out into more mainstream inquiry. That and it’s too damn cold outside to do anything else.

I’m not sure what my take on UFOs is. I did once talk to the man who claimed he was from Alpha Centauri back in that bar when I was in the Army. That would seem to indicate the existence of extraterrestrial life. On the other hand we were in a bar, so—so you see my problem.

It’s like the eyewitness account mentioned in the book when I was still in the Roman numeral numbered introductory pages. My reference to Roman numerals is only a cheap segue trick allowing men to mention that UFOs were spotted as far back as the days of the Roman Empire, when Lucullus was about to battle Mithridates when “all on a sudden, the sky burst asunder, and a huge flame-like body was seen to fall between the two armies. In shape, it was most like a wine-jar.”[1]

My only question as I read this account was, “Didn’t they have saucers in those days?”

But back to the eyewitness account. It seems a journalist, a sports journalist at that, was driving through a town at 4:15 one morning. That’s all I’m going to tell you about his account because there are very few places one could be driving to or from at 4:15 in the morning. Throw in that he was a sports journalist and I think we can safely assume he was drunk, wasn’t driving safely and didn’t see any UFO—in any shape whatsoever.

Then there is the report from a couple that encountered a flying saucer, also while driving one night. “‘We kept driving but we both ducked down, expecting it to hit us.’ I thought, ‘This is it. We’ve had it.’”

So far this seems pretty reasonable. I maybe would have stopped driving but had I continued I definitely would have at least ducked down, too. And I probably would have mouthed the words, “Oh shit,” which is practically the same as thinking, “This is it. We’ve had it.”

But what the man said next makes their story seem just a tad implausible.

A Time to Heal

Those familiar with my blog know I have written several times about a 24-hour contest that I enter four times a year. Writers are given a prompt at noon Saturday and must send in a story by noon the following day. About a year ago, my daughter Danielle began entering it with me. We would have a lot of fun calling back and forth about how hopeless the prompts seemed, and how there was no way we were going to get a story out of it, and then finally sending our stories to each other when we finally did get one.

We have both won honorable mentions—sometimes for the same contests, and sometimes for different contests and that’s always fun. But winning is even more fun. Today they announced the winners for the Writers Weekly Winter contest and I am very happy to announce that one of us has broken into the winner’s circle.

 I’m including Danielle’s story on this blog and a web link to a site where a much larger group of readers are enjoying her story today. Congratulations Danielle. Enjoy. 

A Time to Heal

He walked among the market stalls, pretending to ignore the whispering women. They were drawn to his handsome features, his sad smile. They filled his church coffers, even as his words rang hollow.

Feeling a touch on his sleeve, he turned, a furrow creasing his brows. Looking first left and then right, he angrily spat, “I told you to not speak to me again!”

Why does everything in Florida take its sweet time?

Florida—the leisure state, the retirement state, the state where seniors go to slow down, take it easy and get away from it all. This would all be true if Florida didn’t always seem to have something going on—something people in the rest of the country can’t understand. And usually something calling for immediate action.

Florida was certainly quick to step to the plate when they became the first state to pass a “Stand your ground” act in 2005. The law allows a person to use deadly force as a first option not only if they are threatened but even if they merely feel threatened.  This feeling doesn’t have to be substantiated by facts or evidence because its a feeling. Essentially, instead of saying, “the devil made me do it” the shooter could now say he was “hooked on a feeling” and all would be forgiven.

 

Twenty-three states followed Florida’s lead, which could easily be called rushing to action—or at least a rush to please the NRA since there was no great public outcry for such a law.

After a decade on the books a casual observer might conclude that Florida’s law is doing more harm than good—both to the state and to the number of non-threatening but, it-feels-like-they-are individuals that are being killed.

Shouldn’t the state be taking a second look into a law that practically justifies murder rather than prevent it?

Maybe but many are saying, “What’s the rush? Let’s give it time to work.”

My guess is these same people are keeping their fingers crossed, much the way school principals cross their fingers every morning when they turn on the lights in their schools.

     I was going through some old stories I'd written years ago. The article I refer to in this story, “Adam and Eve Were Space Astronauts,” actually did appear in the January 16 edition of National Enquirer—the January 16, 1979 edition—35 years ago. After all these years it seems we are no closer to the truth today than when we started.

     Just last week I saw a clip of an Alabama legislator talking about creation as if it happened last week. Well, maybe not last week but 6,000 years ago is practically the same as last week if you believe the universe is 15-billion years old. Apparently the debate between creationists and evolutionists will go on forever, which so far is either 6,000 years or 15,000,000,000 years.

     There is an outdated reference to eight-tracks in the story. I left it in because when you're telling a story about something that happened 15 billion years ago, or even 6000 years ago,  does anything really go out of style?

Adam and Eve Were Space Astronauts

 

The front page headline in the National Enquirer (January16) caught my eye and imagination.  It said simply, “Adam and Eve Were Space Astronauts.”  Let us go back now to relive those final days of Adam and Eve – Space Travelers and those first early days of Adam and Eve – Earth Citizens.

Adam looked at his wife sitting in the seat next to him.  His face was beginning to show the strain of the many years he had been at the controls.  Eve looked a little ragged herself.