Read Online Star Trek The Original Series From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward - Free Book Online
Authors: Dayton Ward
Ads: Link
Roswell, but everything changed on that fateful day in 1947.
“Oh, I can imagine, sir,” Marshall said, averting her gaze as she returned to moving various papers and files aroundher desk. “I can only seem to keep a boyfriend as long as I stay here, but the minute I’m sent somewhere? Kiss him good-bye.”
Despite his mood, Wainwright smiled at her comment. At twenty-six, Allison Marshall was smart and unafraid to speak her mind, a trait he admired. Though military discipline prevented her from straying too far from traditional courtesies and demeanor, she had no problem voicing her opinions to him if she felt she needed to be heard. Their working relationship was such that he long ago had encouraged her to dispense with protocol when they were alone.
“Well, it’s their loss, then,” Wainwright said. Clearing his throat, he tried—with only marginal success—to put the letter out of his mind. Though he knew saying as much reinforced everything Deborah had been trying to tell him, there really were more pressing matters demanding his attention just now. “Do you have the report on the Kansas City sighting? Captain Ruppelt’s been asking about it.”
Marshall held up a file folder. “Finishing it up now, sir. I’m waiting on the photos we took to come back from the lab.”
“Good.” The photographs he and Marshall had collected were nothing spectacular; just supporting documentation of the people who had reported seeing an “unidentified flying object” or “UFO,” as the Air Force now called such unknown craft, as well as the area where the alleged sighting had taken place. As one of the senior members of the project here at Wright-Patterson, Wainwright was sent to Kansas City, Missouri, to investigate the report as filed by their liaison officer at Whiteman Air Force Base, the closest installation to the city. Marshall had gone with him. “Thanks for turning that around so quickly. I know we justgot back last night, and it was a Sunday night to boot, but you know how Ruppelt can be.”
“Not a problem, sir,” Marshall replied, ever the consummate professional so far as their actual work was concerned. She paused, and Wainwright watched her eyes take in the stacks of paperwork cluttering her desk. “I’m not saying a vacation to San Diego or Miami wouldn’t go unappreciated, though.”
For the first time that morning, Wainwright chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do, but I wouldn’t count on anything more than a weekend pass anytime soon. If anything, I think we’re going to be getting busier.”
From its humble beginnings here five years earlier, the original Majestic 12 project had evolved far beyond the investigation of the original spacecraft landing at Roswell along with any possible aftereffects of that incident. Within months of the project’s inception, the Air Force launched another initiative, Project Sign, with a primary mission of investigating the increasing number of UFO sightings.
As this mandate was separate from MJ-12 operations, Professor Carlson—still a central figure in the original group’s leadership committee—had requested of the new project’s commander, Captain Robert Sneider, that Wainwright be designated as a liaison officer between the two groups. For nearly a year, Wainwright and other Air Force officers investigated reports submitted by military personnel as well as civilians. Though no hard evidence had been collected during this time, details as relayed from individuals claiming to have seen strange aircraft bore enough similarities that senior government and military officials were becoming convinced that some form of extraterrestrial activity was taking place in the skies above America and, indeed, the entire world.
Skeptics also put forth theories that some of these sightings might well be top-secret aircraft from the Soviet Union. Such notions had been bandied about even before the launch of Project Sign, and Wainwright had heard rumors that
“Oh, I can imagine, sir,” Marshall said, averting her gaze as she returned to moving various papers and files aroundher desk. “I can only seem to keep a boyfriend as long as I stay here, but the minute I’m sent somewhere? Kiss him good-bye.”
Despite his mood, Wainwright smiled at her comment. At twenty-six, Allison Marshall was smart and unafraid to speak her mind, a trait he admired. Though military discipline prevented her from straying too far from traditional courtesies and demeanor, she had no problem voicing her opinions to him if she felt she needed to be heard. Their working relationship was such that he long ago had encouraged her to dispense with protocol when they were alone.
“Well, it’s their loss, then,” Wainwright said. Clearing his throat, he tried—with only marginal success—to put the letter out of his mind. Though he knew saying as much reinforced everything Deborah had been trying to tell him, there really were more pressing matters demanding his attention just now. “Do you have the report on the Kansas City sighting? Captain Ruppelt’s been asking about it.”
Marshall held up a file folder. “Finishing it up now, sir. I’m waiting on the photos we took to come back from the lab.”
“Good.” The photographs he and Marshall had collected were nothing spectacular; just supporting documentation of the people who had reported seeing an “unidentified flying object” or “UFO,” as the Air Force now called such unknown craft, as well as the area where the alleged sighting had taken place. As one of the senior members of the project here at Wright-Patterson, Wainwright was sent to Kansas City, Missouri, to investigate the report as filed by their liaison officer at Whiteman Air Force Base, the closest installation to the city. Marshall had gone with him. “Thanks for turning that around so quickly. I know we justgot back last night, and it was a Sunday night to boot, but you know how Ruppelt can be.”
“Not a problem, sir,” Marshall replied, ever the consummate professional so far as their actual work was concerned. She paused, and Wainwright watched her eyes take in the stacks of paperwork cluttering her desk. “I’m not saying a vacation to San Diego or Miami wouldn’t go unappreciated, though.”
For the first time that morning, Wainwright chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do, but I wouldn’t count on anything more than a weekend pass anytime soon. If anything, I think we’re going to be getting busier.”
From its humble beginnings here five years earlier, the original Majestic 12 project had evolved far beyond the investigation of the original spacecraft landing at Roswell along with any possible aftereffects of that incident. Within months of the project’s inception, the Air Force launched another initiative, Project Sign, with a primary mission of investigating the increasing number of UFO sightings.
As this mandate was separate from MJ-12 operations, Professor Carlson—still a central figure in the original group’s leadership committee—had requested of the new project’s commander, Captain Robert Sneider, that Wainwright be designated as a liaison officer between the two groups. For nearly a year, Wainwright and other Air Force officers investigated reports submitted by military personnel as well as civilians. Though no hard evidence had been collected during this time, details as relayed from individuals claiming to have seen strange aircraft bore enough similarities that senior government and military officials were becoming convinced that some form of extraterrestrial activity was taking place in the skies above America and, indeed, the entire world.
Skeptics also put forth theories that some of these sightings might well be top-secret aircraft from the Soviet Union. Such notions had been bandied about even before the launch of Project Sign, and Wainwright had heard rumors that
Similar Books
