Brazos River Beat: The UFO Report

July 27, 2010--The UFO Report: Well, here it is another night has gone by, and I have no alien contacts to report. Nothing stranger sighted than my son-in-law, who, come to think of it, is most likely stranger than any extraterrestrial I’ll ever meet. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “Compared to what?” When queried about what we were having for supper (I live my daughter and him), he said, “I don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m spitting in it.” Anyway, I’m sure you get the picture, and I’m also sure that he is a life form all his own. The genetic code in his ancestry must have broken down somewhere.

I digress, let’s get back to “ordinary” UFO’s, shall we? I am among the number of people who firmly believe in the existence of the presence of life in the stars; we are not alone, say I. Though I feel no need to defend my beliefs, let me assure you that I have reason to believe as I do. I have a sighting of my own, for one thing. When I was a young lad of about 12 or 13, I was playing outside one night (yes, back then children used to still “play” when they were 12 or 13, ask your grandpa if you don’t believe me) when a somewhat yellowish light blossomed in the northern sky, and there in the center of that light a tiny cigar or disc shaped object appeared for a few scant seconds; then POOF!, it disappeared, taking the strange light with it. I was frozen to the spot for a bit; then, when the shock wore off, I ran inside and told my dad about it. “Ahuh,” he said, “must’ve been one of them flying saucers!” And then he stuck his nose back into the book he was reading, and never mentioned it again…

But there you have it, a lifetime of belief begun on one summer’s night. I am now old and wrinkled, but that light and that image are still burned in my memory as if it happened just yesterday. There are many other reasons to believe in life on other worlds; reasons that some would say are even better than a young boys sighting. The sheer mathematical probabilities, for instance. We puny earthlings have no way of even estimating how many stars there are, but we do know they number in trillions upon trillions. To assume that all life was born on one little planet is to ignore the odds, and any casino will tell you the futility of that. Besides the fact that they always come out on top, they are not even dealing with the magnitude of numbers we are in the planetary life game; one can only wonder what kind of odds they would give on money bet on existence. Something like 1/1000000000000000000000000000000000000~…? Notice I said “on existence”, not on “finding proof of existence” in our lifetimes. Given the fact that we are constantly trying to kill ourselves, none of us are likely to live long enough to ever meet any extraterrestrials. It remains a dream of mine, however. Someday I hope to be able to shake the hand of a living entity from another world, or draw my sword and do battle with him, or whatever. Even if it kills me, I will rest in peace, because I will finally, finally KNOW!

But, you know what really, really, bugs me? It’s that some of you vain people who only believe in life on Earth, probably meet aliens everyday, and don’t even know it. Shame on you…

Brazos Mason

IN THE NEWS - 07/24/10

IN THE NEWS: Today North Korea is threatening to counter the S. Korea/USA military “exercise” scheduled for Sunday, July 25, with an “exercise” of its own. My immediate reaction to this news is that, once again, the drums of war are rumbling. This time, though, the stakes are much higher than before, for N. Korea has nuclear weapons of its own to brandish. Perhaps even more importantly, the North is not given to being bullied, and likely will match bullet with bullet and nuclear device with nuclear device in protection of its homeland against a perceived threat.

To be blunt; what we may be watching is the beginning of World War III, the dreaded nuclear conflict that no reasonable person wishes to see; the war that will have no winners, only losers. If these events play out that way, Sunday might be remembered as “the day of infamy”, and not the day now rued as such in American history. Permit me, if you will, to begin writing a fantastic play of what I feel may happen, and who I feel the major players might be.

The stage: the world as we know it.
The major players: USA/South Korea
North Korea
Waiting off-stage: Iran
Pakistan
China
Looking for a part: Russia
United Kingdom
Canada
France
“Bit” players: millions of young women and men the world over, both
military and civilian. Look at them quickly; they will be
gone in a “bit.”

Act I: Military exercises by both sides begin in international waters off the Korean peninsula. With their hands so busy beating themselves on the chest, mistakes are made by both sides; a ship or two is “accidentally” sunk; lives are lost. The hot potato of blame (notice how that rhymes with shame) is rapidly passed from side to side; no one wants to keep it for long. Leaders of the countries involved call for quick and sincere apologies from the others. Respective ambassadors press the UN for condemnations and sanctions to be forwarded with haste. Political pundits the world over praise their pets and figuratively behead the objects of their scorn. The war of words rages long after the guns and ship engines are silent.

Act II: Iran greets the sunrise on Monday with a blistering denunciation of the USA and all it stands for, making no mention of South Korea except to call it a “puppet kingdom” controlled by the US. Iran goes on to say that, though it shares no birthright with the N. Koreans, they share common grounds on their views of US “imperialists”; stating that N. Korea has their full support, whatever that might entail. Pakistan issues a hot declaration as well, except that on one can tell if it is pro-US or anti-US. Most casual readers just assume that, because it came from Pakistan, it is probably anti-US. China issues a terse statement that deplores US involvement in the area, describing the US as “imperialist” and “warmongering.” China stops short of making any physical threats, but calls for international sanctions against the US and S. Korea; saying it will keep a “close eye” on developments in the area and that it’s position may change from day-to-day. Russia buttons its lip and says nothing for now, but if one sniffs closely, one can smell bear in the area. The United Kingdom and Canada immediately pledge allegiance to their old buddy the US, while stopping short of promising anything else for now. France calls for restraint by all involved in the area, and pleads for “cooler heads” to prevail. Luckily, only a few of the bit players have been lost so far, although most would agree that even one is too many.

Act III? An event that is waiting to happen; one that will most likely be determined by the major role players in the play. I, for one, fervently hope that “cooler heads” will prevail, and that today’s news will become tomorrow’s afterthought. The world, we “bit players” in particular, simply cannot afford a World War III. That purported event would be worse than anything that has happened in civilized history before, nay, worse than any three or four events combined. Like someone once said (whose name I forget), “Brother, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Here’s hoping that my little fantastic play ends here, and there are no further Acts to come. Stay tuned, kiddies…

Brazos Mason