Ancillary Mercy полностью

There can be no doubt that Sen. Richard Russell saw something extraordinary. Let us assume that, just as he described, he did see a flying saucer. Could it have been what it appeared to be, a Soviet flying saucer? If so, it would mean that human beings have had flying saucer technology for a long time. It would be a secret as amazing as that of aliens themselves. But of course, the leap to such a revolutionary method of aerodynamics and propulsion seems impossible. Contrast the image of a WWII-styled propeller-driven aircraft with a multi-Mach, silent, exceptionally maneuverable disc-shaped craft. The issue had been raised back in 1947 and 1948 at Wright-Patterson AFB: could the Soviets, Germans, Americans, or anyone else, have created the kind of breakthrough in aerodynamics that UFOs appeared to represent? The answer at that time was no. If, therefore, the Soviets (and presumably the Americans) did achieve such a breakthrough, all has been silent in the public domain, as well as on the field of battle.

Russell did see a craft. If it was not of human design, then the only alternative is that it was of alien design, and that both the Soviet and American governments knew this.

This much is certain: the Soviet government was deeply secretive about UFOs in its territory, and the American government—at the height of the cold war—cooperated in this secrecy.¹⁶⁴

Although the Russell sighting remained well submerged within the media, a New York Times article from October 8, 1955, printed a cryptic remark from General Douglas MacArthur that world nations would have to unite against enemies from outer space. He refused any further explanation. Two days later, the air force released a statement from Fort Worth, Texas, to explain that any flashing lights seen for the next two months across the U.S. would be wind-driven experimental plastic balloons that might travel as fast as 110 mph.¹⁶⁵

Presumably, it was not an experimental balloon or U-2 spy plane that hit a B-47 near Lovington, New Mexico, in October. According to the sole survivor, something solid definitely hit the plane. No other planes were in the area. One witness claimed a “ball of fire” appeared near the plane just before the crash. Several weeks later, another such incident occurred in Texas.¹⁶⁶

On November 20, two shiny, elliptical UFOs, “like two dirigibles,” traveled over the restricted area at Oak Ridge. On December 11, navy jets engaged in a dogfight with a round, reddish UFO near Jacksonville, Florida. The object had been reported by the crews of two airliners, as well as by people on the ground. Two navy jets were in the area on a night practice mission and were directed to the area by the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The jets located the object and attempted to close in on it. At that moment, the object shot up to thirty thousand feet, then dived back, circling and buzzing the jets. All the while, Naval Air Station officers and tower controllers watched on radar. In this case, as with so many others, it is reasonable to ask: if this UFO was an experimental, classified American project, what might account for this type of behavior—to say nothing of the performance of the object itself?¹⁶⁷

GOVERNMENT OUT OF CONTROL

By the mid-1950s, more signs emerged that the executive office, even headed by a war hero, was losing control of its military. Throughout the year, President Eisenhower and Air Force Chief of Staff Nathan Twining tried to get some kind of information from Curtis LeMay at SAC as to what his actual strategic bombing plan was. In October 1955, LeMay finally briefed the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The shocked attending members learned that LeMay’s plan called for the instantaneous destruction of 645 military targets, 118 cities, and 60 million people in the Soviet Union. LeMay had not drawn up his plan as defensive, in accordance with the official U.S. policy of massive retaliation. A firm believer in first strike, LeMay said, “I’m going to knock the shit out of them before they get off the ground.”¹⁶⁸