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Folklore in the making. From the farfadets, we have drifted to modern times, with Springheel Jack and the Mothman. And we have seen our visitors' arsenal become more precise. Jack's lantern and ray gun have survived in modern tales, in twentieth-century comic books, in television series. But the real question is: Could all this be real? And, if not, how can we explain the consistency of these descriptions, at a time when there were no comics and no television? The Italian artist R. L. Johannis had a remarkable experience in 1947, at a time when the name "flying saucer" was already popular in the United States but when documentation about landings was nonexistent. The date was August 14. He was hiking alone, following a small stream in the mountainous region between Italy and Yugoslavia. Among some rocks, he suddenly saw a large, brilliant red, lens-shaped object, about ten yards in diameter. Close to it, he discovered two people, whom he first regarded as "kids" until he realized they were dwarfs — of a type he had never seen or ee before. The two beings were under three feet tall; their heads were larger than a man's head. They had no hair, eyelashes, or eyebrows. Their faces were greenish, their noses straight, their mouths wide slits, giving them something of the appearance of a fish. Their eyes were huge, round, and prominent, their color yellow-green. The skin around their eyes formed rings rather than eyelids. As Johannis moved, one of the beings touched his belt. At once from the center of the belt something like a ray and a puff of vapor were emitted. Johannis experienced an electrical discharge and found himself on the ground, helpless, and very weak. It took all his energy to turn his head and observe the two beings as they walked away. A moment later they were gone. In 1965 a case very similar to Johannis's was reported to the U.S. Air Force. Dr. J. Allen Hynek and I tried in vain to get an active investigation of it by Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force's investigations of UFO sightings in the 1960s. Finally the case was leaked, at my suggestion, to a civilian group which conducted a speedy and careful study of the testimony given by the only witness, a Mr. S. The details of the testimony are now aviable in an excellent book by the leaders of the civilian group, the Lorenzens. Called by the Lorenzens the "most spectacular report we have examined," the incident took place on September 4, 1964, in the mountains of northern California, about eight miles from Cisco Grove. Mr. S. was hunting when he became separated from the hunting party and lost his way. Night was falling, so he lit some fires to show his position. Soon he observed a light in the sky, which he thought was a helicopter looking for him. When it stopped and hovered silently nearby, however, he realized it was an unusual object and climbed a large tree to observe from that vantage point. The light circled the tree. He saw a flash and a dark object falling to the ground. Next he noticed one figure crashing through the woods below him and another moving in from a slightly different direction. Both figures approached the tree and looked at him. They were a little over five feet tall, the witness estimates, and clothed in a silvery uniform that covered their heads. A third creature appeared later, behaving more like a mechanical being than an animal or man. It was darker and had two reddish-orange "eyes." It had no mouth, but rather a slit-like opening that would 1 a 1 drop open like an oven door. For the rest of the time Mr. S. was conscious, the entities used a variety of means to try to get him to fall from the tree. He managed to keep them away by throwing lighted bits of paper and clothing at them, to which they reacted in fear. The main weapon used against him was a very curious one. If we are to believe this report, the "robot-like" entity would let its lower "jaw" drop, then place its "hand" inside the rectangular cavity thus revealed, and emit a puff of smoke in Mr. S.'s direction. The smoke spread like a mist and, upon reaching him, made him lose consciousness. The effects of it was comparable to being suddenly deprived of oxygen, Mr. S. said. The story is hard to believe: Would not such beings be able to climb a tree? If they came out of a flying saucer, why could they not fly up to his refuge? But it is equally difficult to prove that Mr. S. simply had a nightmare. The witness is not given to such behavior, and when he woke up at dawn, still tied to the tree with his belt, all the objects he had thrown at the intruders were still lying around. Furthermore, there is the description of the strange, powerful gas, which plays such an important role in the story, as it does in the incidents related to Springheel Jack, the Johannis