We are already here,
among you.
Some of us have always been here, with you, yet apart from,
watching, and occasionally guiding you whenever the opportunity
arose.
Now, however, our numbers have been
increased in
preparation for a further step in the development of your
planet:
a step of which you are not yet aware…
Space People's
Landmarks
We have been
confused with the 'gods' of many
world-religions, although we are
not gods, but your fellow creatures, as you will learn directly
before many more years have passed.
You will find records of our
presence in the mysterious symbols of
ancient Egypt, where we
made ourselves known in order to accomplish certain ends.
Our
principal symbol appears in the
religious art of your present
civilization and occupies a position of importance upon
the
great seal of your country:
The United States of America.
It has been preserved in certain
secret societies founded
originally to keep alive the knowledge of our existence and our
intentions toward mankind.
We have left you certain landmarks, placed carefully in
different parts of the globe, but most prominently in Egypt
where we established our headquarters upon the occasion of our
last overt, or, as you would say, public appearance.
At that
time the foundations of your present civilization were 'laid in
the earth' and the most ancient of your known landmarks
established by means that would appear as miraculous to you now
as they did to the pre-Egyptians, so many thousands of years
ago.
Since that time the
whole art of building, in stone, has become symbolic, to many of
you, of the work in hand - the building of the human race
towards its perfection.
Your ancestors knew us in those days as preceptors and as
friends. Now, through your own efforts, you have almost reached,
in your majority, a new step on the long ladder of your
liberation.
You have been constantly aided by our watchful
'inspiration', and hindered only by the difficulties natural to
your processes of physical and moral development…
It has Happened Before
You have lately achieved the means of destroying yourselves.
Do
not be hasty in your self-congratulation. Yours is not the first
civilization to have achieved
- and used -
such means.
Yours will not be the
first civilization to be offered the means of preventing that
destruction and proceeding, in the full glory of its accumulated
knowledge, to establish an era of enlightenment upon the earth.
However, if you do accept the means offered you, and if you
establish such a 'millennium' upon the basis of your present
accomplishments, yours will be the first civilization to do so.
ALWAYS BEFORE, THE KNOWLEDGE, THE TECHNIQUES, THE INSTRUCTIONS,
HAVE BECOME THE POSSESSIONS OF A CHOSEN FEW:
A FEW CHOSE
THEMSELVES BY THEIR OWN OPEN-MINDED AND CLEAR-SIGHTED
REALIZATION OF 'THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME'.
THEY ENDEAVORED TO
PASS ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE FORM, AND BY THE
MOST ENDURING MEANS AT THEIR COMMAND.
In a sense they succeeded, but in
another sense their failure equaled their success.
Human
acceptance is, to a very large extent, measurable by human
experience. Succeeding generations, who never knew our actual
presence, translated the teachings of their elders in the terms
of their own experience.
For instance, a cross-sectional
drawing, much simplified and stylized by many copyings, of one
of our traveling machines became the 'Eye of Horus, and then
other eyes of other gods.
Finally, the ancient symbol that was
once an accurate representation of an important mechanical
device has been given surprising connotations by the modern
priesthood of psychology.
The important fact is, however, that we are here, among you,
and that you, as a world-race, will know it before very much
longer!
The time is almost
ripe but, as with all ripening things, the process may not be
hurried artificially without danger of damaging the fruit.
There is a right time
for every action, and the right time for our revelation of
ourselves to your era is approaching.
Some Have Seen Our Ships
Some of you have seen our 'advanced guard' already.
You have
met us often in the streets of your cities, and you have not
noticed us.
But when we flash through your skies in the
ancient traditional vehicles
you are amazed, and those of you who open your mouths and tell
of what you have seen are accounted dupes and fools. Actually
you are prophets, seers in the true sense of the word.
You in Kansas and Oklahoma, you in
Oregon and in California, and Idaho, you know what you have
seen:
do not be dismayed by meteorologists. Their business is
the weather.
One of you says,
'I saw a torpedo-shaped object'.
Others report, 'disc-like objects', some of you say 'spherical
objects', or 'platter-like objects'.
You are all reporting
correctly and accurately what you saw, and in most cases you are
describing the same sort of vehicle.
…Now that the art of manufacturing plastic materials has
reached a certain perfection among you, perhaps you can imagine
a material, almost transparent to the rays of ordinary visible
light, yet strong enough to endure the stresses of extremely
rapid flight.
Look again at the great nebulae, and think of the
construction of your own galaxy, and behold the universal
examples of what we have found to be the perfect shape for an
object which is to travel through what you still fondly refer to
as 'empty'
space.
In the centre of the discus,
gyroscopically controlled within a central sphere of the same
transparent material, our control rooms revolve freely,
accommodating themselves and us to flat or edgewise flight.
Both
methods are suited to your atmosphere, and when we convert
abruptly from one to the other, as we are sometimes obliged to
do, and you are watching, our machines seem suddenly to
appear - or to disappear.
At our possible
speeds your eyes, untrained and unprepared for the maneuver, do
make mistakes - but not the mistakes your scientists so often
accuse them of making.
We Can Remain Invisible
We pass over your hilltops in horizontal flight.
You see and
report a torpedo-shaped object. We pass over, in formation,
flying vertically 'edge-on'… Or we go over at night, jet-slits
glowing, and you see an orange disc.
In any event you see us,
and in any event we do not care. if we chose to remain
invisible, we could do so, easily, and, in fact, we have done so
almost without exception for hundreds of years.
But you must become
accustomed to
our shapes in your skies, for
one day they will be familiar, friendly, and reassuring sights.
This time, it is to be hoped that the memory of them, passed on
to your children and their children, will be clear and precise.
That you will not cause them to forget, as your ancestors
forgot, the meaning of the diagrams and the instructions we will
leave with you.
If you do fail, AS OTHER CIVILIZATIONS HAVE
FAILED, we will see your descendants wearing wiring-diagrams for
simple machines as amulets, expecting the diagrams to do what
their forefathers were taught the completed article would
accomplish.
Then their children, forgetting even
that much - or little - would preserve the amulet as a general
protective device - or as an intellectual curiosity - or perhaps
as a religious symbol.
Such is the cycle of
forgetfulness...!
