Chapter II
I TRAVEL IN A FLYING SAUCER
I spent nearly all day Saturday in bed. The shock of my fantastic experience was so great that I found it difficult to get back to actualities. I kept having the feeling that the world I knew was a phantom world inhabited only by shadows.
It was not until Sunday that I could bring myself to tell my wife what had happened to me. I was afraid she would think I had lost my mind. Thus it was with relief I heard her say: "If you say it happened like that, Orfeo, I believe you. You've always told me the truth. But this thing is so strange and frightening - and you looked so deathly white when you came in."
I could only put my arms around her as I replied: "It scares me too, Mabel - I don't know what to think!"
Sunday afternoon I took my twelve year old son Richard and drove back to the spot on Forest Lawn Drive where I had seen the disks. There in the loose dirt I found the deep skid marks the tires of my car had made Friday night.
Richard looked at me curiously and asked what I was looking for. I pointed to the skid marks and told him that was the spot where I had seen what could only have been a flying saucer. Richard stared incredulously. But dad, I thought you always laughed at people who believed in those things."
"You"re right, son," I replied. "But that was only because I didn't know any better. Friday night I saw three of the saucers from this very spot."
Richard's eyes widened with interest. Then he began shooting questions at me so fast that I had to ask him to slow down. But I was glad he did not doubt my word.
Seeing those skid marks where I had gunned my car in panic to get away from the eerie spot assured me of the reality of my experience. I was convinced that I had been in contact with beings from another world.
Monday night I went back to my swing-shift job at Lockheed. It felt good to be back at work again! The friendly banter, laughter and jokes of my co-workers were just what I needed.
Beyond my family I told no one of that first experience, as I knew I would be ridiculed. In fact even at home very little was said about the saucers or my experience, for the subject invariably upset my wife and filled her with such apprehension that even the boys refrained from talking much about it.
But when I was alone I thought long and often about those incredible beings from that other world. The voice had promised: "We'll contact you again, Orfeo." I wondered when they would get in touch with me again and how? Had they meant soon - or would it be months or even years? These and hundreds of similar questions clamored in my mind.
I wondered if I was under constant observation by them. If so, I thought that through telepathy I could signal them to return. ne night I went back to that lonely spot on Forest Lawn Drive and tried to establish telepathic communication. But it was useless! No glowing red disk appeared - only the night and the empty skies that gave back no answer.
Weeks passed and still no further sign from them. Doubts began to trouble me. Time dulled the memory of that night and I began to wonder if my experience had actually been real after all.
Then early in July there began a fresh flood of well-authenticated sightings of saucers in the skies over Southern California. Local newspapers carried banner headlines announcing FLYING SAUCERS OVER LOS ANGELES! Some people were convinced we had interplanetary visitors and looked for mass landings at any moment.
Later in the month additional sensational sightings were reported from many other States. It seemed the skies were filled with the baffling mystery objects that defied all natural laws and behaved more like phantoms than material realities. As I avidly read each new account I became convinced anew that I knew the secret of the flying saucers. But I longed for more knowledge. I hoped and prayed for another contact with those incredible beings I had seen so briefly that Friday night.
July 23, 1952 I didn't go to work. I wasn't feeling well and believed I was coming down with the flu. I was in bed all day, but in the evening I felt a little better and thought a walk in the fresh air would be good for me.
I walked down to the snack-bar at the Los Feliz Drove-In theatre, several blocks from the eleven unit apartment-court where we live. The small cafe has a warm, friendly atmosphere and it gave my spirits a big lift to listen to the small talk and friendly ribbing. Because of the many recent newspaper reports, the talk turned to flying saucers.
Ann, one of the waitresses laughingly remarked that she couldn't get enough sleep as her husband insisted upon staying up most of the night watching the sky with binoculars trying to get a glimpse of a saucer. This brought on a round of flying saucer jokes and everyone was laughing, including myself. The fact that I could laugh indicates that I had pretty well gotten over the shock of my experience.
When I'd finished my coffee I left the snack-bar and started home. It was a little after ten O'clock. Beyond the theatre is a lonely stretch of vacant lots. The place is eerie and forbidding at night, for huge concrete buttresses rise from it supporting the Hyperion Avenue Freeway Bridge several hundred feet overhead. The bridge cast dense, oblique shadows down below making it a shadowed no-man's land.
As I crossed the vacant lots in the deep shadows of the bridge a peculiar feeling came over me. Instantly I remembered that sensation - the tingling in my arms and legs! I looked nervously overhead but saw nothing. The feeling became more intense and with it came the dulling of consciousness I had noted on that other occasion.
Between me and the bridge I noticed a misty obstruction. I couldn't make out what it was. It looked like an Eskimo igloo - or the phantom of an igloo. It seemed like a luminous shadow without substance. I stared hard at the object. It was absolutely incredible - like a huge, misty soap bubble squatting on the ground emitting a fuzzy, pale glow.
The object appeared to be about thirty feet high and about equally wide at the base, so it wasn't a sphere. As I watched, it seemed to gain substance and to darken perceptibly on the outside. Then I noticed it had an aperture, or entrance like the door to an igloo, and the inside was brilliantly lighted.
I walked toward the thing. I had absolutely no sense of fear; rather a pleasant feeling of well-being. At the entrance I could see a large circular room inside. Hesitating only an instant I stepped into the object.
I found myself in a circular, domed room about eighteen feet in diameter. The interior was made of an ethereal mother-of-pearl stuff, iridescent with exquisite colors that gave off light. There was a reclining chair directly across from the entrance. It was made of that same translucent, shimmering substance - a stuff so evanescent that it didn't appear to be material reality as we know it.
No voice spoke, but I received the strong impression that I was to sit in the chair. In fact, a force seemed to be impelling me directly toward it. As I sat down I marveled at the texture of the material. Seated therein, I felt suspended in air, for the substance of that chair molded itself to fit every surface or movement of my body.
As I leaned back and relaxed, that feeling of peace and well-being intensified. Then a movement drew my attention toward the entrance. I saw the walls appeared to be noiselessly moving to close the aperture to the outside. In a few seconds the door had vanished, with no indication that there had ever been an entrance.
The closing of that door cut me off entirely from the outside world. For an uncomfortable moment I felt utterly alone - lost to my family and friends. But almost immediately a pleasant warmth passed over me giving me once more that feeling of peace and security. I breathed deeply and found the air cool and fresh. Vaguely I wondered what was going to happen next.
Then I thought I heard a humming sound. At first it was almost inaudible, but it grew to a steady, low-pitched rhythm that was more like a vibration than a hum.
Next I was aware that my body seemed to be sinking more deeply into the soft substance of the chair. I felt as though a gentle force was pushing perculiarly pleasant sensation that put me into a kind of semi-dream state.
While the humming sound increased I noticed that the room was darkening as though a heavy shadow was engulfing the room in twilight. As the light diminshed I began to grow apprehensive. I had the realization of how alone and helpless I actually was. For a bad moment I was on the edge of panic in the tightly sealed, darkening room.
Then... I heard music! It seemed to be coming from the walls. I couldn't believe my ears when I recognized the melody as my favorite song, "Fools Rush In". The panic within me subsided for I realized how safe I was with them - thy who knew my every thought, dream and cherished hope!
Reassured, I settled back to enjoy the music. In a few seconds the interior of the room began to grow light again. Soon it was more brilliantly lighted than ever. It was at that moment that I noticed a glittering piece of metal on the floor of the craft. It was the shape and about the size of a quarter. I reached down and picked it up. It was different from any kind of metal I had ever seen, for it seemed almost to be alive in my hand. It quivered and began to glow almost like a live coal; yet it remained at the same ytemperature as my body. Now I noticed that the piece of metal was diminishing in size. It was as though some mysterious kind of sublimation or degeneration was taking place before my eyes. Could it be that contact with my hand was causing the substance to dissipate in the air? I placed it back upon the floor of the craft. There it ceased to quiver and the odd glow was no longer apparent.
I leaned back in the chair and noticed my soiled, faded work clothes which I had worn when I went to the snack-bar. The coarse fabric appeared crude and glaringly out of place in the exquisite, shimmering mother-of-pearl room.
"Where are they taking me?" I wondered, as I half listened to the music. For I was certain the the craft I was in must be moving. Were they taking me to their world, or was I going to spend eternity lost in space in that pearly igloo?
While I was still pondering these questions I felt the push against the surface of by body lessen, then cease altogether. The music stopped playing and humming vibration in the floor died away too. I was certain that whatever type of motive power was used was housed somewhere below the floor as the faint vibratory hum definitlely came from there.
Then smoothly and noiselessly the chair made a quarter turn toward the wall. Even as much as I trusted my unseen friends I was a little frightened at this. Tensely I waited, gripping the arms of the chair. Directly in front of me a circular opening appeared in the wall about six feet in diameter, but everything appeared hazy through it.
As I stared, the lights inside darkened. Then either the entire craft or the seat turned slightly more to the left and the strange window widened about three more feet. I saw a huge globe surrounded with a shimmering rainbow. I trembled as I realized I was actually looking upon a planet from somewhere out in space. The planet itself was of a deep, twilight-blue intensity and the irridescent rainbow surrounding it made it appear like a dream vision. I couldn't see it all, for a portion at the bottom of the sphere was cut off by the floor line.
Now I heard that voice I remembered so well. "Orfeo, you are looking upon Earth - your home! From here, over a thousand miles away in space, it appears as the most beautiful planet in the heavens and a haven of peace and tranquillity. But you and your Earthly brothers know the true conditions there.
As I listened to the tender, gentle intonations of that wonderful voice and overwhelming sense of sadness came over me. I felt tears in my eyes - I who had not know the relief of tears since I was a small boy. My heart was so full of emotion that tears were the only possible expression. They flowed unheeded down my cheeks. I was not ashamed for the tears seemed somehow to cleanse and purify me and to break down the hard, unfeeling, crystalized shell of The Reasoner that I had come to pride myself upon being.
The voice said softly: "Weep, Orfeo. Let tears unblind your eyes. For at this moment we weep with you for Earth and her Children. For all of its apparent beauty Earth is a purgatorial world among the plants evolving intelligent life. Hate, selfishness and cruelty rise from many parts of it like a dark mist.
The words brought fresh tears to my eyes as I thought of conditions on Earth and how they must appear to these perfected, compassionate beings who had extra-dimensional sight.
There was wsilence for a moment. Then I noticed that the room was apparently revolving away from Earth. Gradually the heavens came into view - an awesome, breathtaking sight from that tiny craft. All space appeared intensely black and the stars incrediably brilliant, set like jewels against black velvet - large, small; single and clustered. I felt lost in a strangely beautiful, ethereal world of celestial wonder.
All was brooding silence, order and indescribable beauty. A deep feeling of reverence possed me. I had never been an actively religious man, but in that moment I knew God as a tangible, immutable Force that reached to the furthest depths of Time and Eternity. And I felt assurance that the beings in whose care I was at that moment were close to the Infinite Power.
For a moment there was deep silence. Then as I wiped away the tears I saw a fantastic object coming slowly into view through the "window". It resembled a dirigible except that it was definitely flattened at the bottom.. It emerged gradually into view from the right.
I studied it closely, wondering at its composition. It did not appear to be metallic like an airplane, but was definitely crystalling and give it illusion of transparency. Its light properties definitely suggested perfect crystal alloyed throughout. I surmised it might be some sort of crystal-metal-plastic combination. When the entire ship was in view it appeared to be at least 1000 feet long and about 90 feet thick, but it could have been a great deal larger for there was no way to judge how close I was to it.
I stared fascinated at the half-ethereal "ship", scarcely conscious that I was again hearing music. But as my ears caught a startling, unfamiliar, strain, I listened intently to music such as I had never heard or could imagine. It is beyond description, for it was not music as we know it, nor was it played to our musical scale. It was strange, haunting drifts of melody that brought visions of star galaxies and planets spinning in notes of perfect harmony.
The voice spoke again: "Brother of Earth, each entity of your planet is divinely created and immortal. Upon your world the mortal shadows of those entities are working out their salvation from the plane of darkness. Every person upon Earth and its adjoining planes of manifestation are definitely arrayed upon either the positive side of progression toward good, or on the negative side of regression toward greater evil. We know where you stand, rfeo; but are you going to be content to drift as you have been?"
"No....oh, no!" I replied impulsively. "I want to work constructively. Only grant me strong physical health and there isn't anything I shan't be able to accomplish."
The voice replied gently. "That wish we cannot grant you, Orfeo, as much as we might like to. It is only because your physical body is weakened and your spiritual perceptions thereby keener that we have been able to contact you. Had you been physically in robust health with your mortal body and mind perfectly attuned to the sluggish lowered vibrations of Earth, we could not have manifested to you."
"Sickness, ill-health and all mortal afflictions are transient and unreal. They, along with pain, sorrow, suffering and conflict make up mankind's lessons in the school of the world where wisdom and spiritual evolution are gained primarily through suffering. An explanation of this terrible enigma will be given to you later. But tonight we tell you that you can rise above the inadequacies of your physical body, Orfeo, as may all other Earthlings. Remember always that we love you and your brothers of Earth. We will do everything within our power for the children of Earth that they will permit us to do, through free will."
With these words, the huge ship I was observing began moving upward and toward the left. One large"porthole" after another opened in rapid succession as the ship ascended until what appeared to be three decks were visible and I could catch fleeting glimpses of the interior of the gigantic sky ship. The inside appeared to be of the same luminous mother-of-pearl substance as the interior of the craft I was in. But I saw nothing more, no sign of life, no furnishings or equipment such as we on Earth know.
As I watched the ship I realized that the voice as well as the ethereal music had actually originated in the great sky ship. It came to me then that this must be a mother ship and that beings in it had remote control over the movements of the saucers that skimmed and skipped through our atmosphere. It awed me to realize what a high degree of intelligence and what expert hands were behind the saucer phenomena. I felt ashamed of having pleaded for a healthy body, who had already been granted so much.
As the craft moved further out into space I noticed what appeared to be a rotor at each end of the ship. I say rotor, but actually the things appeared to be vortices of flame.
With my limited knowledge I judged these incredible disks of fire to be tremendously powerful power plants whose terrific energy could be diverted to almost any purpose. The disks I had first seen were used as radio transmitters and receivers; then as a huge three-dimensional television screen on which, through some method of telepathic contact, it was possible both to see and to hear. Now I saw those same disks apparently propelling the vast sky ship. It was my guess that just such a power plant had shot the very craft I was in a thousand miles out into space in a mere matter of minutes and without any discomfort to me. It was clearly evident that all of the bewildering and insurmountable problems of space travel that baffled our engineers and scientists had been overcome by these people to such an extent that the entire trip into outer space was as simple as a ride in an elevator.
I wondered if they had discovered the secret of resisting gravity with its counter-force; if not, then by what other means had they conquered or neutralized gravity? I remembered that Earth's scientists believed that a man in a space ship would be absolutely weightless and apt to float about. I lifted my hand and let it drop to the arm of the chair. It behaved precisely as it would have on Earth. There must be an artificial gravity induced in the floor of the craft.
I wondered too how they had overcome the menace of lethal cosmic rays, meteors, sky debris, etc. Surely my ship carried no tons of lead shielding scientists declared necessary for adequate protection from cosmic rays. Also, I wondered in what way they had mastered the terrific pressure and temperature changes so that I was never conscious at any time of variations in either? And their motive power; what was the fantastic secret of those green fireballs? Possibly they were vortices of magnetic power which operated almost silently and with astounding efficiency. What a wonder world their planet must be, I thought, as I gazed in awe at the crystalline dream-ship passing from my line of vision.
Slowly then the room turned back toward the left and the Earth appeared once more with its shimmering rainbow halo. Dimly I could make out the faint outlines of the Western Hemisphere in varying shades of misty blue. Also I could see faint puffs of light scattered here and there which I judged to be the larger cities of the North American continent.
Two flying saucers darted into view and sped downward toward Earth. Just as abruptly they decelerated and hung suspended in space as pinpoints of light. As I was wondering about them I heard the voice say that one was over Washington, D.C. and the other over Los Angeles. Los Angeles - the word echoed in my consciousness as I gazed at the faint brush of light that was a great sprawling city. I tried to remember that Los Angeles was my home, but it seemed only vaguely familiar; a place remembered somewhere in Time.
"Tonight, Orfeo," the voice continued, "you have explored a minute distance into the limitless highways of the universe. Through your own efforts the road may later be widened for you. Tonight you, an entity of Earth, have come close to the Infinite Entities. For the present you are our emissary, Orfeo, and you must act! Even though people of Earth laugh derisively and mock you as a lunatic, tell them about us!"
"I will....I will..." I whispered haltingly knowing that everything I said was heard by them even as all my thoughts were known to them.
"We know you will, Orfeo," the voice replied. "Thus tonight a special privilege has been yours. We love the Children of Earth and it is our desire to help them as the hour of crisis approaches. But only through such harmless ones as you can we work.
"The aggressive men of Earth want our scientific advancements. For these they would shoot our crafts from the skies - if they could. But additional scientific knowledge we cannot give to Earth except as we are now doing in a manner perfectly in accord and harmony with cosmic law. Already man's material knowledge has far outstripped the growth of brotherly love and spiritual understanding in his heart. Therein lies the present danger. To add to the destructive phase of man's scientific knowledge is not permitted. We are working now to turn that knowledge to constructive purposes upon Earth. Also we hope to give men a deeper knowledge and understanding of their own true nature and a greater awareness of the evolutionary crisis facing them. At present we are working along all constructive lines of human endeavor and especially in the fields of medicine and healing. Surely you cannot fail to see the tremendous advances which have been made in this direction within the last few years. Even greater 'discoveries' are at hand including success in the fight against cancer. Thus shall we continue to work with and through men."
I listened to the compassionate voice, trying to imprint every word on my consciousness. But I have forgotten much and these words are only a poor attempt to recall all that I heard. The voice continued speaking:
"We know your mind is filled with questions. One question in particular troubles you an it concerns the entity the world knows as Jesus Christ. May we set your mind at rest. In allegorical language Christ is indeed the Son of God. The star that burned over Bethlehem is a cosmic fact. It announced the birth on your planet of an entity not of Earth's evolution. He is Lord of the Flame - an infinite entity of the sun. Out of compassion for mankind's suffering He became flesh and blood and entered the hell of ignorance, woe and evil. As the Sun Spirit who sacrificed Himself for the children of woe he has become a part of the oversoul of mankind and the world spirit. In this He differs from all other world teachers.
"Each person upon Eart has a spiritual, or unknown, self which transcends the material world and consciousness and dwells eternally out of the Time dimension in spiritual perfection within the unity of the oversoul.
"In the illusion of Time is written man's choice through free will whereby he set in motion the cause of error which inevitably resulted in effect, in which mankind entered mortal consciousness or the living death of his present existence. Thus was he separated from his eternal and perfect self. His one purpose upon Earth now is to attain reunion with is immortal consciousness. When this is accomplished he is resurrected from the kingdom of death and becomes his real immortal self made in the image and likeness of God Your Teacher has told you, God is love, and in these simple words may be found the secrets of all the mysteries of Earth and the worlds beyond."
Tears coursed down my cheeks. Under the spiritual scrutiny of that great, compassionate consciousness I felt like a crawling worm - unclean, filled with error and sin. Yes, I say sin, but not in the ordinary sense men use that word. Rather sin as sin really is. And basically sin is hypocrisy, falsity, the living lie! It is looking at your fellow man with a friendly smile upon your face with treacherous, malicious, or mocking thoughts in your heart. Sin is any and all deviations from absolute truth, perfect love, absolute honesty and righteous motives. Thus actual sin has little to do with Earthly standards of sin.
As these realizations filled my consciousness I wanted to fling myself down upon the floor and hide my head in shame for humanity. And of all men I at that moment felt the lowliest, the least worthy to be where I was. I wondered how those great beings could love such a one as I or any of mankind. We with our bloody wars, our intense hatreds, our cheap, shoddy intolerances, our greed and avarice and our cruel inhumanity to our fellowmen. I hid my head in my hands and wept bitter tears for a creature so full of error and hypocrisy and yet so puffed up with egotistical pride over our little material knowledge.
At that moment, as in a dream, I heard the strains of the "Lord's Prayer", played as though by thousands of violins. As I crouched in the chair fresh tears poured from my eyes. My heart was filled with humility, contrition and with gratitude - gratitude that these Great Ones had even considered our miserable selfish existence.
Above the exquisite strains of melody, the voice said: "Beloved friend of Earth, we baptize you now in the true light of the worlds eternal."
A blinding white beam flashed from the dome of the craft. Momentarily I seemed partially to lose consciousness. Everything expanded into a great shimmering white light. I seemed to be projected beyond Time and Space and was conscious only of light, Light, LIGHT! Orfeo, Earth, the past were as nothing, a dark dream of a moment. And that dream unfolded before my eyes in swift panorama. Every event of my life upon Earth was crystal clear to me - and then memory of all of my previous lives upon Earth returned. IN THAT SUBLIME MOMENT I KNEW THE MYSTERY OF LIFE! Also, I realized with a terrible certainty that we are all - each one of us - TRAPPED IN ETERNITY and ALLOTTED ONLY ONE BRIEF AWARENESS AT A TIME!
I am dying, I thought. I have been through this death before in other earthly lives. This is death! Only now I am in ETERNITY, WITHOUT BEGINNING AND WITHOUT END. Then slowly everything resolved into radiant light, peace and indescribable beauty. Free of all falsity of mortality I drifted in a timeless sea of bliss.
At last, as from a vivid dream, I regained consciousness. Dazedly, I looked about the interior of the craft. Everything was the same, but it seemed ten thousand years had passed in what must have been only a few moments. I was half conscious of a burning sensation on my left side just below the heart, but I thought nothing of it then.
Ethereal drifts of music were in the air. Far away, I could feel, more than hear, a pulsing vibration beneath the floor of the craft. Also, I was again aware of the gentle push of my body against the cushioned chair. I realized I was being taken back to Earth.
In an incredibly short time the wall opened and I saw the familiar surroundings. Yes, I knew I was home again. But I also realized a little sadly that Earth could never again really be my home. In the spiritual evolution of mankind, I had been expendable in this life. Thus had I passed through death and attained infinite life.
As I got up from the comfortable chair, I reached down and picked up the strange, shining bit of metal and carried it in my hand as I left the craft. In a kind of daze I walked away from the ship; then curiously turned to look at it from the outside once more. But it was gone! I looked up and there it was high in the sky, faintly visible as a fuzzy luminous bubble. Then suddenly it was not there at all; but high in the northeastern sky I saw a red, glowing disk which changed to green and vanished.
I glanced down at the round bit of strange metal in my hand. I was glowing and livid again and appeared almost to be alive as it quivered in contact with my flesh. Also, it was rapidly diminishing in size. By the time I had reached home it had dissipated into nothingness.
As I was undressing to go to bed, I remembered again the burning sensation I had felt on my left side while I was undergoing the profound "initiation" in the saucer. I glanced down and saw what appeared to be a circular "burn" about the size of a quarter on my left side directly below my heart. The outer rim of the circle was red, inflamed and slightly raised as also was a small dot in the center of the circle - the symbol of the hydrogen atom. I realized they had impressed that mark upon by body to convince me beyond all doubt of the reality of my experiences in the cold light of the coming days.
I TRAVEL IN A FLYING SAUCER
I spent nearly all day Saturday in bed. The shock of my fantastic experience was so great that I found it difficult to get back to actualities. I kept having the feeling that the world I knew was a phantom world inhabited only by shadows.
It was not until Sunday that I could bring myself to tell my wife what had happened to me. I was afraid she would think I had lost my mind. Thus it was with relief I heard her say: "If you say it happened like that, Orfeo, I believe you. You've always told me the truth. But this thing is so strange and frightening - and you looked so deathly white when you came in."
I could only put my arms around her as I replied: "It scares me too, Mabel - I don't know what to think!"
Sunday afternoon I took my twelve year old son Richard and drove back to the spot on Forest Lawn Drive where I had seen the disks. There in the loose dirt I found the deep skid marks the tires of my car had made Friday night.
Richard looked at me curiously and asked what I was looking for. I pointed to the skid marks and told him that was the spot where I had seen what could only have been a flying saucer. Richard stared incredulously. But dad, I thought you always laughed at people who believed in those things."
"You"re right, son," I replied. "But that was only because I didn't know any better. Friday night I saw three of the saucers from this very spot."
Richard's eyes widened with interest. Then he began shooting questions at me so fast that I had to ask him to slow down. But I was glad he did not doubt my word.
Seeing those skid marks where I had gunned my car in panic to get away from the eerie spot assured me of the reality of my experience. I was convinced that I had been in contact with beings from another world.
Monday night I went back to my swing-shift job at Lockheed. It felt good to be back at work again! The friendly banter, laughter and jokes of my co-workers were just what I needed.
Beyond my family I told no one of that first experience, as I knew I would be ridiculed. In fact even at home very little was said about the saucers or my experience, for the subject invariably upset my wife and filled her with such apprehension that even the boys refrained from talking much about it.
But when I was alone I thought long and often about those incredible beings from that other world. The voice had promised: "We'll contact you again, Orfeo." I wondered when they would get in touch with me again and how? Had they meant soon - or would it be months or even years? These and hundreds of similar questions clamored in my mind.
I wondered if I was under constant observation by them. If so, I thought that through telepathy I could signal them to return. ne night I went back to that lonely spot on Forest Lawn Drive and tried to establish telepathic communication. But it was useless! No glowing red disk appeared - only the night and the empty skies that gave back no answer.
Weeks passed and still no further sign from them. Doubts began to trouble me. Time dulled the memory of that night and I began to wonder if my experience had actually been real after all.
Then early in July there began a fresh flood of well-authenticated sightings of saucers in the skies over Southern California. Local newspapers carried banner headlines announcing FLYING SAUCERS OVER LOS ANGELES! Some people were convinced we had interplanetary visitors and looked for mass landings at any moment.
Later in the month additional sensational sightings were reported from many other States. It seemed the skies were filled with the baffling mystery objects that defied all natural laws and behaved more like phantoms than material realities. As I avidly read each new account I became convinced anew that I knew the secret of the flying saucers. But I longed for more knowledge. I hoped and prayed for another contact with those incredible beings I had seen so briefly that Friday night.
July 23, 1952 I didn't go to work. I wasn't feeling well and believed I was coming down with the flu. I was in bed all day, but in the evening I felt a little better and thought a walk in the fresh air would be good for me.
I walked down to the snack-bar at the Los Feliz Drove-In theatre, several blocks from the eleven unit apartment-court where we live. The small cafe has a warm, friendly atmosphere and it gave my spirits a big lift to listen to the small talk and friendly ribbing. Because of the many recent newspaper reports, the talk turned to flying saucers.
Ann, one of the waitresses laughingly remarked that she couldn't get enough sleep as her husband insisted upon staying up most of the night watching the sky with binoculars trying to get a glimpse of a saucer. This brought on a round of flying saucer jokes and everyone was laughing, including myself. The fact that I could laugh indicates that I had pretty well gotten over the shock of my experience.
When I'd finished my coffee I left the snack-bar and started home. It was a little after ten O'clock. Beyond the theatre is a lonely stretch of vacant lots. The place is eerie and forbidding at night, for huge concrete buttresses rise from it supporting the Hyperion Avenue Freeway Bridge several hundred feet overhead. The bridge cast dense, oblique shadows down below making it a shadowed no-man's land.
As I crossed the vacant lots in the deep shadows of the bridge a peculiar feeling came over me. Instantly I remembered that sensation - the tingling in my arms and legs! I looked nervously overhead but saw nothing. The feeling became more intense and with it came the dulling of consciousness I had noted on that other occasion.
Between me and the bridge I noticed a misty obstruction. I couldn't make out what it was. It looked like an Eskimo igloo - or the phantom of an igloo. It seemed like a luminous shadow without substance. I stared hard at the object. It was absolutely incredible - like a huge, misty soap bubble squatting on the ground emitting a fuzzy, pale glow.
The object appeared to be about thirty feet high and about equally wide at the base, so it wasn't a sphere. As I watched, it seemed to gain substance and to darken perceptibly on the outside. Then I noticed it had an aperture, or entrance like the door to an igloo, and the inside was brilliantly lighted.
I walked toward the thing. I had absolutely no sense of fear; rather a pleasant feeling of well-being. At the entrance I could see a large circular room inside. Hesitating only an instant I stepped into the object.
I found myself in a circular, domed room about eighteen feet in diameter. The interior was made of an ethereal mother-of-pearl stuff, iridescent with exquisite colors that gave off light. There was a reclining chair directly across from the entrance. It was made of that same translucent, shimmering substance - a stuff so evanescent that it didn't appear to be material reality as we know it.
No voice spoke, but I received the strong impression that I was to sit in the chair. In fact, a force seemed to be impelling me directly toward it. As I sat down I marveled at the texture of the material. Seated therein, I felt suspended in air, for the substance of that chair molded itself to fit every surface or movement of my body.
As I leaned back and relaxed, that feeling of peace and well-being intensified. Then a movement drew my attention toward the entrance. I saw the walls appeared to be noiselessly moving to close the aperture to the outside. In a few seconds the door had vanished, with no indication that there had ever been an entrance.
The closing of that door cut me off entirely from the outside world. For an uncomfortable moment I felt utterly alone - lost to my family and friends. But almost immediately a pleasant warmth passed over me giving me once more that feeling of peace and security. I breathed deeply and found the air cool and fresh. Vaguely I wondered what was going to happen next.
Then I thought I heard a humming sound. At first it was almost inaudible, but it grew to a steady, low-pitched rhythm that was more like a vibration than a hum.
Next I was aware that my body seemed to be sinking more deeply into the soft substance of the chair. I felt as though a gentle force was pushing perculiarly pleasant sensation that put me into a kind of semi-dream state.
While the humming sound increased I noticed that the room was darkening as though a heavy shadow was engulfing the room in twilight. As the light diminshed I began to grow apprehensive. I had the realization of how alone and helpless I actually was. For a bad moment I was on the edge of panic in the tightly sealed, darkening room.
Then... I heard music! It seemed to be coming from the walls. I couldn't believe my ears when I recognized the melody as my favorite song, "Fools Rush In". The panic within me subsided for I realized how safe I was with them - thy who knew my every thought, dream and cherished hope!
Reassured, I settled back to enjoy the music. In a few seconds the interior of the room began to grow light again. Soon it was more brilliantly lighted than ever. It was at that moment that I noticed a glittering piece of metal on the floor of the craft. It was the shape and about the size of a quarter. I reached down and picked it up. It was different from any kind of metal I had ever seen, for it seemed almost to be alive in my hand. It quivered and began to glow almost like a live coal; yet it remained at the same ytemperature as my body. Now I noticed that the piece of metal was diminishing in size. It was as though some mysterious kind of sublimation or degeneration was taking place before my eyes. Could it be that contact with my hand was causing the substance to dissipate in the air? I placed it back upon the floor of the craft. There it ceased to quiver and the odd glow was no longer apparent.
I leaned back in the chair and noticed my soiled, faded work clothes which I had worn when I went to the snack-bar. The coarse fabric appeared crude and glaringly out of place in the exquisite, shimmering mother-of-pearl room.
"Where are they taking me?" I wondered, as I half listened to the music. For I was certain the the craft I was in must be moving. Were they taking me to their world, or was I going to spend eternity lost in space in that pearly igloo?
While I was still pondering these questions I felt the push against the surface of by body lessen, then cease altogether. The music stopped playing and humming vibration in the floor died away too. I was certain that whatever type of motive power was used was housed somewhere below the floor as the faint vibratory hum definitlely came from there.
Then smoothly and noiselessly the chair made a quarter turn toward the wall. Even as much as I trusted my unseen friends I was a little frightened at this. Tensely I waited, gripping the arms of the chair. Directly in front of me a circular opening appeared in the wall about six feet in diameter, but everything appeared hazy through it.
As I stared, the lights inside darkened. Then either the entire craft or the seat turned slightly more to the left and the strange window widened about three more feet. I saw a huge globe surrounded with a shimmering rainbow. I trembled as I realized I was actually looking upon a planet from somewhere out in space. The planet itself was of a deep, twilight-blue intensity and the irridescent rainbow surrounding it made it appear like a dream vision. I couldn't see it all, for a portion at the bottom of the sphere was cut off by the floor line.
Now I heard that voice I remembered so well. "Orfeo, you are looking upon Earth - your home! From here, over a thousand miles away in space, it appears as the most beautiful planet in the heavens and a haven of peace and tranquillity. But you and your Earthly brothers know the true conditions there.
As I listened to the tender, gentle intonations of that wonderful voice and overwhelming sense of sadness came over me. I felt tears in my eyes - I who had not know the relief of tears since I was a small boy. My heart was so full of emotion that tears were the only possible expression. They flowed unheeded down my cheeks. I was not ashamed for the tears seemed somehow to cleanse and purify me and to break down the hard, unfeeling, crystalized shell of The Reasoner that I had come to pride myself upon being.
The voice said softly: "Weep, Orfeo. Let tears unblind your eyes. For at this moment we weep with you for Earth and her Children. For all of its apparent beauty Earth is a purgatorial world among the plants evolving intelligent life. Hate, selfishness and cruelty rise from many parts of it like a dark mist.
The words brought fresh tears to my eyes as I thought of conditions on Earth and how they must appear to these perfected, compassionate beings who had extra-dimensional sight.
There was wsilence for a moment. Then I noticed that the room was apparently revolving away from Earth. Gradually the heavens came into view - an awesome, breathtaking sight from that tiny craft. All space appeared intensely black and the stars incrediably brilliant, set like jewels against black velvet - large, small; single and clustered. I felt lost in a strangely beautiful, ethereal world of celestial wonder.
All was brooding silence, order and indescribable beauty. A deep feeling of reverence possed me. I had never been an actively religious man, but in that moment I knew God as a tangible, immutable Force that reached to the furthest depths of Time and Eternity. And I felt assurance that the beings in whose care I was at that moment were close to the Infinite Power.
For a moment there was deep silence. Then as I wiped away the tears I saw a fantastic object coming slowly into view through the "window". It resembled a dirigible except that it was definitely flattened at the bottom.. It emerged gradually into view from the right.
I studied it closely, wondering at its composition. It did not appear to be metallic like an airplane, but was definitely crystalling and give it illusion of transparency. Its light properties definitely suggested perfect crystal alloyed throughout. I surmised it might be some sort of crystal-metal-plastic combination. When the entire ship was in view it appeared to be at least 1000 feet long and about 90 feet thick, but it could have been a great deal larger for there was no way to judge how close I was to it.
I stared fascinated at the half-ethereal "ship", scarcely conscious that I was again hearing music. But as my ears caught a startling, unfamiliar, strain, I listened intently to music such as I had never heard or could imagine. It is beyond description, for it was not music as we know it, nor was it played to our musical scale. It was strange, haunting drifts of melody that brought visions of star galaxies and planets spinning in notes of perfect harmony.
The voice spoke again: "Brother of Earth, each entity of your planet is divinely created and immortal. Upon your world the mortal shadows of those entities are working out their salvation from the plane of darkness. Every person upon Earth and its adjoining planes of manifestation are definitely arrayed upon either the positive side of progression toward good, or on the negative side of regression toward greater evil. We know where you stand, rfeo; but are you going to be content to drift as you have been?"
"No....oh, no!" I replied impulsively. "I want to work constructively. Only grant me strong physical health and there isn't anything I shan't be able to accomplish."
The voice replied gently. "That wish we cannot grant you, Orfeo, as much as we might like to. It is only because your physical body is weakened and your spiritual perceptions thereby keener that we have been able to contact you. Had you been physically in robust health with your mortal body and mind perfectly attuned to the sluggish lowered vibrations of Earth, we could not have manifested to you."
"Sickness, ill-health and all mortal afflictions are transient and unreal. They, along with pain, sorrow, suffering and conflict make up mankind's lessons in the school of the world where wisdom and spiritual evolution are gained primarily through suffering. An explanation of this terrible enigma will be given to you later. But tonight we tell you that you can rise above the inadequacies of your physical body, Orfeo, as may all other Earthlings. Remember always that we love you and your brothers of Earth. We will do everything within our power for the children of Earth that they will permit us to do, through free will."
With these words, the huge ship I was observing began moving upward and toward the left. One large"porthole" after another opened in rapid succession as the ship ascended until what appeared to be three decks were visible and I could catch fleeting glimpses of the interior of the gigantic sky ship. The inside appeared to be of the same luminous mother-of-pearl substance as the interior of the craft I was in. But I saw nothing more, no sign of life, no furnishings or equipment such as we on Earth know.
As I watched the ship I realized that the voice as well as the ethereal music had actually originated in the great sky ship. It came to me then that this must be a mother ship and that beings in it had remote control over the movements of the saucers that skimmed and skipped through our atmosphere. It awed me to realize what a high degree of intelligence and what expert hands were behind the saucer phenomena. I felt ashamed of having pleaded for a healthy body, who had already been granted so much.
As the craft moved further out into space I noticed what appeared to be a rotor at each end of the ship. I say rotor, but actually the things appeared to be vortices of flame.
With my limited knowledge I judged these incredible disks of fire to be tremendously powerful power plants whose terrific energy could be diverted to almost any purpose. The disks I had first seen were used as radio transmitters and receivers; then as a huge three-dimensional television screen on which, through some method of telepathic contact, it was possible both to see and to hear. Now I saw those same disks apparently propelling the vast sky ship. It was my guess that just such a power plant had shot the very craft I was in a thousand miles out into space in a mere matter of minutes and without any discomfort to me. It was clearly evident that all of the bewildering and insurmountable problems of space travel that baffled our engineers and scientists had been overcome by these people to such an extent that the entire trip into outer space was as simple as a ride in an elevator.
I wondered if they had discovered the secret of resisting gravity with its counter-force; if not, then by what other means had they conquered or neutralized gravity? I remembered that Earth's scientists believed that a man in a space ship would be absolutely weightless and apt to float about. I lifted my hand and let it drop to the arm of the chair. It behaved precisely as it would have on Earth. There must be an artificial gravity induced in the floor of the craft.
I wondered too how they had overcome the menace of lethal cosmic rays, meteors, sky debris, etc. Surely my ship carried no tons of lead shielding scientists declared necessary for adequate protection from cosmic rays. Also, I wondered in what way they had mastered the terrific pressure and temperature changes so that I was never conscious at any time of variations in either? And their motive power; what was the fantastic secret of those green fireballs? Possibly they were vortices of magnetic power which operated almost silently and with astounding efficiency. What a wonder world their planet must be, I thought, as I gazed in awe at the crystalline dream-ship passing from my line of vision.
Slowly then the room turned back toward the left and the Earth appeared once more with its shimmering rainbow halo. Dimly I could make out the faint outlines of the Western Hemisphere in varying shades of misty blue. Also I could see faint puffs of light scattered here and there which I judged to be the larger cities of the North American continent.
Two flying saucers darted into view and sped downward toward Earth. Just as abruptly they decelerated and hung suspended in space as pinpoints of light. As I was wondering about them I heard the voice say that one was over Washington, D.C. and the other over Los Angeles. Los Angeles - the word echoed in my consciousness as I gazed at the faint brush of light that was a great sprawling city. I tried to remember that Los Angeles was my home, but it seemed only vaguely familiar; a place remembered somewhere in Time.
"Tonight, Orfeo," the voice continued, "you have explored a minute distance into the limitless highways of the universe. Through your own efforts the road may later be widened for you. Tonight you, an entity of Earth, have come close to the Infinite Entities. For the present you are our emissary, Orfeo, and you must act! Even though people of Earth laugh derisively and mock you as a lunatic, tell them about us!"
"I will....I will..." I whispered haltingly knowing that everything I said was heard by them even as all my thoughts were known to them.
"We know you will, Orfeo," the voice replied. "Thus tonight a special privilege has been yours. We love the Children of Earth and it is our desire to help them as the hour of crisis approaches. But only through such harmless ones as you can we work.
"The aggressive men of Earth want our scientific advancements. For these they would shoot our crafts from the skies - if they could. But additional scientific knowledge we cannot give to Earth except as we are now doing in a manner perfectly in accord and harmony with cosmic law. Already man's material knowledge has far outstripped the growth of brotherly love and spiritual understanding in his heart. Therein lies the present danger. To add to the destructive phase of man's scientific knowledge is not permitted. We are working now to turn that knowledge to constructive purposes upon Earth. Also we hope to give men a deeper knowledge and understanding of their own true nature and a greater awareness of the evolutionary crisis facing them. At present we are working along all constructive lines of human endeavor and especially in the fields of medicine and healing. Surely you cannot fail to see the tremendous advances which have been made in this direction within the last few years. Even greater 'discoveries' are at hand including success in the fight against cancer. Thus shall we continue to work with and through men."
I listened to the compassionate voice, trying to imprint every word on my consciousness. But I have forgotten much and these words are only a poor attempt to recall all that I heard. The voice continued speaking:
"We know your mind is filled with questions. One question in particular troubles you an it concerns the entity the world knows as Jesus Christ. May we set your mind at rest. In allegorical language Christ is indeed the Son of God. The star that burned over Bethlehem is a cosmic fact. It announced the birth on your planet of an entity not of Earth's evolution. He is Lord of the Flame - an infinite entity of the sun. Out of compassion for mankind's suffering He became flesh and blood and entered the hell of ignorance, woe and evil. As the Sun Spirit who sacrificed Himself for the children of woe he has become a part of the oversoul of mankind and the world spirit. In this He differs from all other world teachers.
"Each person upon Eart has a spiritual, or unknown, self which transcends the material world and consciousness and dwells eternally out of the Time dimension in spiritual perfection within the unity of the oversoul.
"In the illusion of Time is written man's choice through free will whereby he set in motion the cause of error which inevitably resulted in effect, in which mankind entered mortal consciousness or the living death of his present existence. Thus was he separated from his eternal and perfect self. His one purpose upon Earth now is to attain reunion with is immortal consciousness. When this is accomplished he is resurrected from the kingdom of death and becomes his real immortal self made in the image and likeness of God Your Teacher has told you, God is love, and in these simple words may be found the secrets of all the mysteries of Earth and the worlds beyond."
Tears coursed down my cheeks. Under the spiritual scrutiny of that great, compassionate consciousness I felt like a crawling worm - unclean, filled with error and sin. Yes, I say sin, but not in the ordinary sense men use that word. Rather sin as sin really is. And basically sin is hypocrisy, falsity, the living lie! It is looking at your fellow man with a friendly smile upon your face with treacherous, malicious, or mocking thoughts in your heart. Sin is any and all deviations from absolute truth, perfect love, absolute honesty and righteous motives. Thus actual sin has little to do with Earthly standards of sin.
As these realizations filled my consciousness I wanted to fling myself down upon the floor and hide my head in shame for humanity. And of all men I at that moment felt the lowliest, the least worthy to be where I was. I wondered how those great beings could love such a one as I or any of mankind. We with our bloody wars, our intense hatreds, our cheap, shoddy intolerances, our greed and avarice and our cruel inhumanity to our fellowmen. I hid my head in my hands and wept bitter tears for a creature so full of error and hypocrisy and yet so puffed up with egotistical pride over our little material knowledge.
At that moment, as in a dream, I heard the strains of the "Lord's Prayer", played as though by thousands of violins. As I crouched in the chair fresh tears poured from my eyes. My heart was filled with humility, contrition and with gratitude - gratitude that these Great Ones had even considered our miserable selfish existence.
Above the exquisite strains of melody, the voice said: "Beloved friend of Earth, we baptize you now in the true light of the worlds eternal."
A blinding white beam flashed from the dome of the craft. Momentarily I seemed partially to lose consciousness. Everything expanded into a great shimmering white light. I seemed to be projected beyond Time and Space and was conscious only of light, Light, LIGHT! Orfeo, Earth, the past were as nothing, a dark dream of a moment. And that dream unfolded before my eyes in swift panorama. Every event of my life upon Earth was crystal clear to me - and then memory of all of my previous lives upon Earth returned. IN THAT SUBLIME MOMENT I KNEW THE MYSTERY OF LIFE! Also, I realized with a terrible certainty that we are all - each one of us - TRAPPED IN ETERNITY and ALLOTTED ONLY ONE BRIEF AWARENESS AT A TIME!
I am dying, I thought. I have been through this death before in other earthly lives. This is death! Only now I am in ETERNITY, WITHOUT BEGINNING AND WITHOUT END. Then slowly everything resolved into radiant light, peace and indescribable beauty. Free of all falsity of mortality I drifted in a timeless sea of bliss.
At last, as from a vivid dream, I regained consciousness. Dazedly, I looked about the interior of the craft. Everything was the same, but it seemed ten thousand years had passed in what must have been only a few moments. I was half conscious of a burning sensation on my left side just below the heart, but I thought nothing of it then.
Ethereal drifts of music were in the air. Far away, I could feel, more than hear, a pulsing vibration beneath the floor of the craft. Also, I was again aware of the gentle push of my body against the cushioned chair. I realized I was being taken back to Earth.
In an incredibly short time the wall opened and I saw the familiar surroundings. Yes, I knew I was home again. But I also realized a little sadly that Earth could never again really be my home. In the spiritual evolution of mankind, I had been expendable in this life. Thus had I passed through death and attained infinite life.
As I got up from the comfortable chair, I reached down and picked up the strange, shining bit of metal and carried it in my hand as I left the craft. In a kind of daze I walked away from the ship; then curiously turned to look at it from the outside once more. But it was gone! I looked up and there it was high in the sky, faintly visible as a fuzzy luminous bubble. Then suddenly it was not there at all; but high in the northeastern sky I saw a red, glowing disk which changed to green and vanished.
I glanced down at the round bit of strange metal in my hand. I was glowing and livid again and appeared almost to be alive as it quivered in contact with my flesh. Also, it was rapidly diminishing in size. By the time I had reached home it had dissipated into nothingness.
As I was undressing to go to bed, I remembered again the burning sensation I had felt on my left side while I was undergoing the profound "initiation" in the saucer. I glanced down and saw what appeared to be a circular "burn" about the size of a quarter on my left side directly below my heart. The outer rim of the circle was red, inflamed and slightly raised as also was a small dot in the center of the circle - the symbol of the hydrogen atom. I realized they had impressed that mark upon by body to convince me beyond all doubt of the reality of my experiences in the cold light of the coming days.
