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182 chains, no bowing down in their presence, no saluting an alien flag, no having to ask permission. Not even any restrictions on his precious freedoms of speech, assembly, or even thought. Reactions to this shocking realization will be neither simple nor consistent. Some, who have long accepted that UFOs are real and probably alien, may take the news quite calmly, hav- ing had years to condition themselves. Others, who have long been aware of UFOs but never considered them of much inter- est because they were never personally touched, may shrug their shoulders and move along to the sports page. Still others, however, may find the news highly upsetting, especially if they have accepted the years of official denials as "proof" that UFOs cannot exist as anything different and important. Then the past will come back to haunt those who, for one reason or another, made authoritative-sounding statements discrediting UFOs, their observers and all those who found them interesting. The most flamboyant proponents of UFO reality (saucer fans, New-Age believers, tabloid editors) will no doubt make certain that the world knows how far-sighted they were. This will add to the difficulty of keeping the public calm. But as long as UFOs are seen as having come no closer than a few thousand feet overhead, it should be possible to convince most people that nothing traumatic is about to happen. But as UFOs come closer—or their closer approaches are confirmed by government agencies—the danger of strong pub- lic reaction will grow. Once it is admitted that they have had any sort of impact on people or the environment (what are called Close Encounters of the Second Kind and involve physi- ological and physical effects), it will be easy for any individual to visualize one of the spooky things bothering him. A UFO that can frighten one innocent driver on a lonely road at night by flying alongside and shining a bright light into his car can presumably do the same thing to others. Even if no real harm results, strong feelings of insecurity could engulf much of the population. Even if the government doesn't confirm close approaches CRASH AT CORONA