By Pam “Gates” Johnson
As far back as I can remember, I have always believed that we are not alone. To my Mr. Spock mind, it doesn’t make any sense that, in all of the gazillions of planets and solar systems and galaxies, we are the only “intelligent” life form.
Granted, I am not an astronomer or a scientist, but it isn’t logical to me that we are all there is. Seems to me that, as time goes by, there is more and more evidence that we have been visited. Otherwise, how can we explain the pyramids and the Aztec and Mayan architecture? They didn’t have excavators or bulldozers or cranes and civil engineers. At least, that is what we are being told.
Not sure when I became aware of my thoughts on this, as my familial and social peers were not overly interested in the subject. I never personally saw an alien or a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena, previously called a UFO). One night, shortly after I was married, my husband and I were driving home through a long expanse of Eastern Washington desert. I was afraid to look at the night sky for fear of seeing a flying saucer. If I was ever going to see one, that was the time and the place.
Don’t think I ever told anybody that before. Not sure why I am so thoroughly convinced that “they” walk among us. Too gullible, perhaps? Watched too many movies and such? For some unexplained reason, I have never been able to force myself to watch “E.T.” or “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Maybe I previously had some sort of close encounter that I don’t want to revisit, and blocked it out!
There are some interesting TV shows I have watched to some degree, like “Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch,” “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch,” and “Resident Alien.” Roswell is a hot topic, as is Area 51. We should never forget the Maury Island Incident. And now comes 3I/Atlas. Are they all somehow interconnected? Inquiring minds want to know. There are too many coincidences to ignore.
Someone I know swears up and down that they experienced a close encounter of the first kind, defined by astronomer J. Allen Hynek, as “Seeing an unidentified flying object within about 500 feet, but without any physical evidence or contact. This is a visual observation as opposed to physical evidence.” So here is a report from my interview of a personal friend whose experience happened on Vashon Island.
One winter night at about 1:00 a.m., this person awoke to an eerie silence. It was too quiet, unnerving. Not wanting to wake the rest of the house, they went downstairs to watch TV. Movement outside caught their attention.
Looking out the front window, they observed … something. It was round and flat like a frisbee, about as big as a car. Red, green, and white lights flashed around the object. It stopped by the house and hovered; the only noise my friend could remember was one small clank.
They were paralyzed, not out of fear, just rendered immobile. No emotion, no fear, no thoughts. They were unable to speak or move. Only their eyes could move. They felt weightless. This lasted about 10 minutes, or so it seemed, then the object began to move, seemed to shrink to the size of a lawn-mower, moved to the right of the house, and disappeared.
Once it was gone, my friend could move and talk again, and felt more normal. I was surprised to hear that they were not left with a feeling of fear. They told a few people about the experience, but I think I am the only one who really believed.
Last summer, I had this goofy idea that our community should have a Maury Island Incident celebration. It seems more relevant than strawberries being celebrated (my personal opinion). I contacted the guy from Des Moines who made a film about the incident. He was very interested, gave me his contact info and told me to get in touch if there was any movement on the idea. The Heritage Museum was not interested. The Chamber of Commerce was busy with Strawberry Festival. I tried to contact the theater about their venue but did not get a response.
I still think a celebration has merit. Des Moines has a Maury Island Incident festival. Even Chehalis has a UFO festival (darn it, I missed it!). This is where it happened. Why don’t we do this?
Thought a lot about the celebration specifics. The movie could be shown, followed by a Q & A with the filmmaker. Food carts and vendors. Perhaps a time when people could share their own experiences. The airport flying saucer? A parade with out-of-this-world costumes. Flying saucers on bikes? A dance? Build your own UAP contest? The options are endless. So, what do y’all think? Is this an idea that has legs? I’m up for it. As they say on YouTube, let me know in the comments.
But back to the current burning question, is 3I/Atlas, the thing speeding toward a planet near you, a comet or something sent by extraterrestrials on another planet or another dimension on a fact-finding mission? How will we figure this one out? Are we smart enough to figure it out? There are many things out there we will never know. Perhaps this is one of them.
