The Alien Whisperer: Book 1, 1947 to 1959 (The Alien Whisherer)

by Ira Tabankin

  February 4 — Douglas “Skyrocket.”

  March 22 — Lockheed TF-80C, the prototype of the Lockheed F-80 “Shooting Star.”

  March 23 — Douglas XF3D-1, the prototype of the Douglas F3D “Skyknight.”

  May 7 — Tupolev Tu-78.

  July 3 — Douglas XAJ-1.

  July 8 — Ilyushin Il-28.

  August 16 — Northrop XF-89, the prototype of the F-89 “Scorpion.”

  August 23 — XF-85 “Goblin.”

  September 18 — Convair XF-92, the world’s first delta-winged airplane.

  September 29 — Vought XF7U-1, the prototype of the F7U “Cutlass,”

  October 20 — McDonnell XF-88 “Voodoo.”

  December 16 — Northrop X-4 “Bantam.”

  Kalteck and General Yahnig celebrated New Years' Eve 1948, making plans for the following year. Everett raised a mug of beer, “it’s been a very good year. We’ve made a lot of progress.”

  “Yes, and more to come. We have to speed up.”

  “Speed up? How? Our companies are building one generation of airplane, while we present them with ideas on how to improve or replace them. They’re going crazy, so is the Congress who is wondering why we’re spending so much money when due to both the Soviets and us having nuclear weapons, there won’t be another war.”

  “You’ll have to tell the President to deal with them. We can’t slow down. Maybe I should allow Stalin to increase the tension between the two of you. He seems to enjoy increasing pressure on his enemies.”

  “I’ll try…” They were interrupted when Everett’s desk phone range. “Kalteck, please duck into your office for a minute. One of my staff just said he has a report I need to see as soon as possible.” Everett read the report, then called Kalteck back. Listen to this, we have a problem. On October first, a US Air Force pilot chased a UFO over Fargo North Dakota for 27 minutes. I don’t know why it took so long to reach my desk. I’ll deal with that later. Everett showed the report to Kalteck, “Was this one of yours?”

  “No. I need to speak to the pilot. I want to hear his description of the craft.”

  Everett shook his head in frustration, “You can’t meet his face to face, why can’t you give me the questions you want to ask him, and I’ll ask them for you.”

  “Why can’t we go to Fargo, you talk to him while I listen. This will also give me a firsthand view of one of your front-line Air Force bases.”

  “Whoa, remember, no one is supposed to know you exist.”

  “You will fly there in one of your normal planes, I will place a small device on your uniform, which will allow me to listen and see everything you see and hear. I will remain invisible over the base while you interview the pilot. I suggest we leave now. Too much time has already elapsed since your pilot chased the ship. His memory may also be failing. We have to rush before he forgets too many critical details.”

  “Now? It’s New Year’s Eve. My wife...”

  “Will understand. This is very important.”

  “Okay, let me call her. I’m going to owe her a big one for this. We were supposed to have dinner with her parents.”

  Everett called the flight line, “I need the fastest plane we have to get to Fargo.”

  “Sir, it’s New Year’s Eve. We don’t have any pilots standing by to fly a VIP mission…”

  “I am invoking Presidential authority, code Blue Angel. Please check it.”

  “Yes, yes, sir,” said the stunned radio operator who’d never spoken to a general before nor had he ever seen a Presidential code. “I’ll get you the best pilot we have. You’re in luck. Four days ago, we received three of the new F 86s which haven’t entered service yet. One can get you to Fargo in a little over four hours.”

  “Get that pilot here in an hour.”

  “Yes, sir.” The radio operator thought, I know one pilot who’s going to have it out for me. He was surprised when the pilot, Captain Jeff Gleckman, was happy to get the recall. “You want me to fly a general to Fargo tonight and I’m supposed to break every record getting there?”

  “Yes, sir. The general said you can go as fast as your plane will take us. He said if you can break Mach, go for it.”

  “Hot shit! I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

  Once both Captain Gleckman and Everett were strapped in, the captain said, “Sir, are you sure I’m to go as fast as this jet can go because this little bird can fly.”

  “Captain let her fly. Break a record.”

  “Sir, you’ve got the right pilot for whatever mission you’re on. Hang on because here we go.” Everett was surprised by the G forces he felt when he remembered that he didn’t feel any in the pod.

  “Sir, I understand you were a pilot, an ace in the war.”

  “Yes, I shot down nine German fighters. One was a Me 262, that was, for its time, a fast sucker.”

  “We have a few hours. Would you tell me about your kills?”

  “Not much to tell, but sure if it’s really something you want to hear about.”

  Chapter 9

  Kalteck’s cloaked pod hung over the base while he listened to the Air Force pilot’s description of strange objects he followed across North Dakota. After a very lengthy meeting, Everett asked Captain Gleckman to fly him back home. Once they landed and Everett changed back to his uniform from his flight suit, he met Kalteck, who’d been drinking beer while he waited for Everett to arrive, “Took you long enough to arrive.”

  Everett laughed, “I had to fly in a fighter, which I could see your influences in. Nice job, it handled like a dream. I’m very impressed. It was about twice the speed of my old fighter. We were able to fly from Andrews to Fargo in only a few hours. Of course, we were bone dry when we arrived, but we made it. I see you’re making good use of our tunnel so you can come and go into my office without anyone else seeing you. Please remember to always keep the door locked.”

  “The tunnel was a brilliant idea, have no worries about someone catching me. I installed a hidden camera outside of your door so I can see if anyone’s coming. I’m pleased that you liked your flight. I suggest you contact the President; I need to speak with him as soon as possible.”

  Kalteck and Everett again flew in the pod to Camp David to meet with President Truman. The President said, “Before we begin discussing what Kalteck wants to talk about, I have an item I’d like to discuss. Everett, I’d like you to move to Dayton, Ohio and use Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as the headquarters for your UFO reporting office. Everett, I know this is going to come as a shock, and your lovely wife won’t be pleased to have to relocate again, but I don’t want the two of you in Washington. There’s too much of a chance someone will spot Kalteck’s pod coming and going. I’ve issued an order to set aside a secret area of Wright-Patterson for your use. The construction crew has been building a large wall and underground facilities for your use. You will also have your own planes and helicopters available for your use, including a couple of secured hangers. One of which is having a special basement built to hide Kalteck’s pod.”

  Everett was about to protest when Kalteck raised his hand to stop him. “Mr. President, I agree with you, this is an excellent idea. The air traffic around your capital and in the entire Northeast is getting too crowded. One day someone will spot us. This is also better than placing Everett’s office in the Pentagon, where someone would go poking around.”

  Everett nodded, “Since both of you believe this is for the best, I guess I better go home and inform my better half it’s time to pack. I’m sure she’s going to be overjoyed. But it’s what comes with a career in the military.”

  Truman patted Everett on his back, “I’ll make this up to you.”

  “Sir, you already have. I made general years ahead of any of my classmates.”

  “Speaking of which, I spoke to the Senate Leader who, after being read into the situation, has agreed with your promotion. You’re no longer a frocked general, you can now wear the star with pride.”

  “Thank you,
sir,” beamed Everett.

  “Before you leave, Kalteck, what is it you needed to see me about?”

  “Sir, the enemy has been here and tested the performance of one of your newest jets. They know you can’t stop them or even slow them down. We need to increase the speed of your advancement. Everett is worried we’re pushing them too quickly. However, this recent event shows me we have to accelerate, and that means spending more money.”

  President Truman slowly shook his head, “I wanted to cut the defense budget, and every time I think we’ve made a major jump and I can cut a little, you appear and demand more money. I guess we don’t have a choice, go ahead. Get every new technology into the pipeline as quickly as you think we can handle it. What can I say? My first and most important responsibility is the protection of the American people.”

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  Project Blue Book quickly got to work out of its new expanded home. Everett increased the number of eager young investigators who flew around the country coming up with stories about why what people saw weren’t what they thought they were seeing. Everett’s wife, while not pleased to be taken from the home she loved in Northern Virginia, understood she’d fallen in love with a military officer who had to go where he was sent. She did appreciate the additional money and the low cost of living in Ohio compared to Virginia.

  Kalteck and Everett reviewed each sighting in private. Kalteck became more worried with each sighting. “Everett, not all of these are the enemy. Some of these are ships that belong to their allies, which I expected.” He picked up three pictures, “These three bother me the most. I don’t recognize the design of these ships. I need to leave you for a while so I can do a little investigation of my own in space. I want to see if the enemy or their allies have built a base in the system I wasn’t aware of.”

  “How far will your pod carry you?”

  Kalteck smiled, “Did you really think I would allow myself to be stranded here with only my pod? One of our mother ships dropped off another ship for me on the dark side of your moon, I will take my pod there and use my new ship to perform the search of your system for any enemy bases. I don’t like how often we hear about these sightings. There are most likely five or more unreported sightings for each one being reported to your team. This is an increase in the number of ships we expected to scan your system by a factor of three. Something is happening and I need to find out what it is. It may change my timetable, so I need to get to the bottom of who’s here and their intentions.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll contact you…”

  “You can do that from space?”

  Kalteck looked at Everett as if he was a little child, “Of course I can. What was the yield of your last nuclear test?”

  “49 kilotons, the largest weapon we’ve tested.”

  “How is the progress coming on the fusion, I mean the hydrogen weapon?”

  “It’s coming. Even with the formula help you’ve given us, we’re having some difficulties getting the timing right to fuse the hydrogen.”

  Kalteck shook his head, “I’ll tell President Truman to make sure you receive copies of their updates. I want to read them. They should have completed the design of the weapon already. If those ships pose a threat, you’re going to require the higher yield of the fusion weapons.”

  “Will do.”

  “Everett keep up the good work. You’re doing better than I thought possible. I know your people. You are very difficult to manage towards a common goal. I know you get frustrated at times. Always remember you’re ensuring your people have a future.”

  “Me? All I’m doing is covering up sightings and passing along technological questions for you to answer, so our weapons and airplane designs continue to advance.”

  “I will be in touch. I will be leaving around three in the morning. Make the normal announcement of an experimental plane flight, so no one gives any thought if they see my rapid lift-off.”

  “Will do. Please be careful out there.”

  “Believe me, I will. I have no desire to be terminated.”

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  Kalteck spent most of 1949 in space. Everett rarely heard from him and then it was only when Kalteck dipped into Earth’s atmosphere to contact Everett to check on the progress being made. Everett reported that there was some good news. For example, The U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command had 837 aircraft, of which 521 were capable of delivering atomic bombs. Kalteck said, “That’s good progress. However, the number is still too little. I bet most are still propeller-driven. You need long-range jet aircraft in case the enemy arrives early and is able to land troops. They will shoot down over 98% of your attack planes, so you will need many hundreds to ensure one makes it through their defenses to drop their weapons to destroy their base.”

  “The cost is crushing, as is the time. It currently takes a few days to assemble each weapon and then up to three hours to mate one weapon to each plane. We don’t leave the weapons attached to the planes. They are kept in guarded weapons bunkers.”

  “We will have to improve those times. I will look into what can be done with your current level of technology if I return.”

  “Whoa, what do you mean if you return? What’s going on? What can I do to help?”

  “Look at Mars tonight between 3 and 4 AM your time and increase the level of your air defense units in case I miss a couple of the enemy’s ships. I discovered they were building a new base on Mars. I may have to use a small antimatter weapon to destroy them tonight.”

  “Won’t that be very dangerous to your efforts to restore Mars?”

  “I’ll be using a very small weapon, only fifty or sixty megatons of energy.”

  “That’s small? What’s large?”

  “A few gigatons of energy.”

  “I’m sorry, I asked. Good luck, my friend. I’ll pray for you.”

  “I appreciate it very much. If I succeed, I’ll contact you tomorrow at this time.” Everett set up a telescope to look at the upcoming battle over Mars. At 3:34 AM, he noticed a bright flash of light just south of the Mars north pole. He wondered who set the weapon off. He’d seen nuclear explosions, but this one even that far away was much brighter. I pray that was Kalteck destroying his enemy’s base and not them destroying him because if they destroyed him, it’s only a matter of time before they arrive over Earth, and we’re not ready to meet them on the field of war.

  1949 saw the development of even more advanced planes. These included:

  May 9 — Republic XF-91 “Thunderceptor”

  June 4 — Lockheed XF-90.

  September 22 — Convair XAT-29, the prototype of the Convair T-29.

  September 24 — North American XT-28, the prototype of the T-28 “Trojan.”

  December 22 — North American F-95A, the prototype of the F-86D “Sabre,” also known as the “Sabre Dog,” “Dog Sabre,” and “Dogship

  Chapter 10

  A very tired and stressed Kalteck returned in mid-May 1950. He was surprised at how quickly the base had expanded and how much larger the Project Blue Book area had grown. His pod landed into one of the secure hangers in the middle of the night. He was greeted by Everett when he stepped out of the pod.

  “Welcome home! Thank you for your message so I could make sure it was safe for you to land tonight. I missed you. Were you able to get any rest after your mission on Mars?”

  “I’ve not had very much rest. I’ve used medication to allow me to stay awake and alert for the previous six weeks. I couldn’t take a break. I discovered too many issues that needed my attention. I even had to call in a special strike by my mother ship and I needed to be rearmed after I fought a battle close to your ninth planet which, I’m sorry to say, lost a bit of its mass in the running battle.”

  “You destroyed Pluto?”

  “Not destroyed, let’s just say your ninth planet is now a little smaller. Your scientists will one day debate if it’s large enough to be a planet and how they got it
so wrong for so long. It will take them some time to improve their telescopes to see what’s been done and by that time, the orbiting debris may have fallen back to the surface, or it will have drifted off into space, only time will tell. I returned because I noted a small war in Asia, what’s going on?”

  “North Korea crossed its border and invaded South Korea…”

  “I thought we discussed this with Chairman Stalin…”

  “My friend, this has nothing to do with the Soviets. The North Koreans take their instructions from China, not Russia.”

  “I haven’t given China any thought, maybe I should have. I need some rest unless something is critical. Let’s get back together in seven hours.”

  “Get some rest, you need it.”

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