comparative secrecy, and I knew we were working on long-range guided
missiles. There was already a plan for a three-thousand-mile test
range. Our supersonic planes had hit around two thousand miles an
hour. Our two-stage rockets had gone over two hundred miles high,
according to reports. If an atomic engine had been secretly developed,
it could explain the speed and range of the saucers.

But I kept coming back to Mantell's death and the Air Force orders for
pilots to chase the saucers. If the disks were American missiles, that
didn't jibe.

When I reached the lobby, I found it was ten after four. I caught a
taxi and made the Congressional Limited with just one minute to spare.
In the club car, I settled down to look at Purdy's summary.

Skipping through the pages, I saw several familiar cases. Here and
there, Purdy had scrawled brief comments or suggestions. Beside the
Eastern Airline report of a double-decked saucer, he had written:

"Check rumor same type seen over Holland about this date. Also,
similar Philippine Islands report--date unknown."

I went back to the beginning. The first case listed was that of
Kenneth Arnold, a Boise businessman, who had set off the saucer scare.
Arnold was flying his private plane from Chehalis to Yakima,
Washington, when he saw a bright flash on his wing.

Looking toward Mount Rainier, he saw nine gleaming disks outlined
against the snow, each one about the size of a C-54.