Flying Saucer of New Mexico

Written by Moe Zilla

Larry and Zach agreed about one thing that the military reported a gigantic hot-air balloon that crashed into the desert in 1947, filled with top-secret research equipment. But Zach insisted that this was just a story to conceal what the military really discovered - a mysterious flying saucer from outer space.

There was nothing but desert around them, but the highway would lead to Zach's uncle Art. He'd retired to a trailer in the desert and had spent the years watching the skies for asteroids and hoping for the chance to spot lost interplanetary spaceships.

But the first mystery was finding where Uncle Art lived! Unfortunately, Zach didn't know the road's name and only remembered that it was the sixth dirt road past state route 246. Larry worried that instead of counting the roads, Zach was concentrating more on convincing him to believe in spaceships!

"Art doesn't say there are aliens landing in New Mexico," Zach insisted. "But at least he keeps an open mind.” Larry finally pointed the truck onto the sixth dirt road, which led to Art's trailer, in back of a fruit stand by the side of the highway.

Art flung open the door, thrilled to see his nephew. He was mostly bald, with funny tufts of white hair, and he was wearing faded blue overalls and a red flannel shirt.

"Zach!" he shouted. "I'm excited to see you again!"

A young woman also emerged from Art's trailer. "This is Dora, from the fruit stand next door," Art said. "She brought me fresh vegetables so I could make you boys some stew! I've been telling everyone that I'm getting a visit from two smart youngsters from out of state. Dora was impressed that you'd drive so far just to see your uncle Art!"

And that was when they saw the flying saucer...

First there was a strange noise sounding like an engine roaring to life, but then they felt a strange blast of wind. An enormous cloud of dust rose in the darkened desert, along with weird humming noises oscillating up and down. Then a glow started shining from inside the dust cloud. Soon the source of the glow had lifted above the cloud of dust, and they could see what it was -- an enormous metal craft moving slowly towards the sky!

"What in tarnation?" said Uncle Art, as Zach and Larry stared in amazement. Dora snapped a picture with her ever-present camera, but in the next second - the flying ship was gone! There was nothing but New Mexico darkness and an eerie silence, as the dust cloud billowed up to swallow the rest of the evening sky.

They all stood dazed for a moment, but the desert world returned to normal with just the soft sound of crickets and a noisy truck on the freeway behind them.

"Well, son of a gun," said Uncle Art.

"Amazing, a flying starcraft!" said Dora.

"You're under arrest," shouted a voice behind them.

They turned to see a tall man in a cowboy hat. Art laughed, and said "That's just Lester. He's a real joker. He runs the gift shop next to Dora's fruit stand. He just got back to America tonight after spending a week visiting his cousin in Italy!"

"I make jokes to keep smiling!” Lester kidded back. "There's barely enough visitors to keep the two of us in business. Poor Dora couldn't support her family if it weren't for her husband's construction firm. And unfortunately, I'm not even married!"

They all laughed at Lester's joke, and Uncle Art invited him in for stew. Dora hurried home for the evening, while Uncle Art told Lester what they'd seen.

"You must feel pretty proud of yourself," Lester said. "After all these years of watching the skies, you finally saw something to brag about!"

"I won't be bragging," Art said. "I don't want a bunch of alien hunters running around in my yard!"

Zach felt a twinge of concern. "I knew that you'd been watching the skies at night," he told Uncle Art, "but were people making fun of you for it?"

The old man didn't say anything for a second. He just stared thoughtfully, chewing his stew, looking proud and even a little brave.

"You can't let other people tell you what to believe," he said firmly.

That night Zach and Larry slept in their sleeping bags in Uncle Art's trailer, and when the sun came up, they rushed to where they'd seen the flying saucer. The desert sand was firm, packed down by years of heat and rain. It was easy to see where the blast of dust had come from - a round circle where the sand was mashed down, right in the spot where they'd scene the flying saucer.

But there was something else in the sand.

"Tire tracks!"

From the mashed-down sand led a trail of two parallel lines, each line nearly one foot wide, like the treads of a bulldozer. They followed the trailer, but it joined a dirt road that soon led to the highway.

"It sure is dusty here," Zach said. "Look at me! I'm a spaceship!" He jumped on the ground, and a cloud of dust billowed up around him. He even jokingly tried to make the weird humming noise the spaceship made last night. "Oo-oo-oo..."

Larry told him that sounded even worse than his singing.

When Zach and Larry returned to the trailer, Uncle Art had a concerned look on his face. Even Zach wondered what he was worrying about, and his uncle decided to share a secret.

"Today in the mail I got a strange letter. It's postmarked from Santa Fe, from a TV station. It says 'Please call us to discuss yesterday's flying starcraft.'" Uncle Art looked genuinely puzzled. "I've never said I was an expert on aliens!"

"Are you sure you didn't call them?" said Lester, from inside the trailer. "Maybe you want to be a big-shot!" Lester had been visiting Art when the mailman brought the letter.

"Or maybe it's you who wants to be a big shot," Uncle Art replied. "Some extra publicity certainly would help your gift shop attract more customers!"

"Or maybe Zach phoned the TV station," Larry interrupted. "You've pestered me for days about the existence of flying saucers, ever since we started driving for New Mexico!"

The four stared bitterly at each other, but finally Larry spoke up in a voice that was calm and certain.

"This letter didn't come from the TV station," Larry announced. "First of all, it is not on letterhead. More importantly, a TV station would call not write a letter about news.”

"I'm beginning to think we didn't see aliens from space," Zach admitted. "We just saw a particularly elaborate practical joke that someone set up in advance!"

"If you could make a cloud of dust just jumping on the desert," Larry said, "Imagine how much dust you could kick up dropping a fake 'spaceship' on the ground."

"But who?” Zach asked.

"Don't worry," Larry announced. "I know exactly who's responsible."