The flying saucer invasion:
Many years ago my father made a little extra money for the household by moonlighting as a proofreader for the town newspaper. One day he noticed an article that had come in over the teletype. It was from the AP (Associated Press) wire, meaning that it was as authoritative as anything that was not strictly local.
The article said that fleets of flying saucers had landed near St. Louis, unloaded a massive army and the invasion was sweeping across the Midwest toward the east coast with no effective resistance being possible by local police forces or the military. So feeling in a mischievous mood my father tore the article off the teletype and took it around to the editor.
The editor shrugged and snorted. My father asked what he, the editor, was going to do about it. The answer was nothing at all. So my father asked why not.
The editor answered, “Weird stories come along all the time. If this is true, we are going to hear a lot more about it.”
Wise man. So far as I know we have still not been enslaved by a space-faring army. In fact I don’t know of any editor in the country who ran the story.
And I suppose that kind of wisdom works. If there were such an invasion, the telephones would have been ringing off the walls. Anyone in town who had a relative in the Midwest would be getting a phone call and calling all of his or her friends. The authorities would make some kind of gesture, call for calm and all the other things they do when they panic.
And besides, the editor had no way immediately to verify the story.
To a degree this parallels my own experience. I scream to high heaven that this is important, and the reaction, I suppose is often, “If it’s real, we’ll hear more.” Very understandable. But as for me, I do keep learning more and it is all pointing the same way. And I do give references. Those are something anybody can verify. The invitation is there.
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