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The Siege - Four discussions. Ted and some of his clients soon began gathering on a monthly basis. In the meetings they shared information from books and also from their own unusual experiences. As he got to know these people better, Ted found that some of them had been suffering from many of the same problems he had. Like him, several people in the study group had recur- rent sleep disorders, and some of them had also been through the anxiety and mental turmoil so familiar to Ted from his own past. The group continued on through the next year, evolving a strong sense of support among the members. Ted realized that none of them, however, really knew enough to feel cer- tain about the true nature of the aliens, their plans and actions and motivations. But they discussed all the possibili- ties and shared a variety of opinions. Belief in the benevo- lence of the ETs still dominated the group, though, which prompted occasional trips out into the countryside at night, where they sat around talking together, waiting and hoping to see a UFO. Such a sighting never happened, but the group was encouraged by another exciting development that gave them an even greater appreciation of Ted and his special abilities. In their lively discussions, one or another of the members often posed questions for general consideration. No one, including Ted, really expected a solid answer to be forthcom- ing. But then he began to have nighttime contacts again, and this time the information he received was clearly related to the questions raised in the study group. The contacts always came while he slept, and upon waking the next morning Ted could remember only the message, not the messenger. Each time he received new information in this way, Ted shared it with the group, fueling new discussions and new questions. His friends gave serious consideration to the insights communicated by what they felt sure were Ted’s friendly ETs. But Ted himself, after years of accepting spirit communications as commonplace, was more puzzled than dazzled by these new contacts. He was especially bothered by the nebulous nature of his Masquerade of Angels 26 The Siege - Four so-called ET visitors. Some of his study-group friends talked about various ‘homes’ from which the aliens supposedly originated, such as Zeta Reticuli, Orion, and the Pleiades, cer- tain that the ETs were physical entities. If the aliens truly were real, as humans are, Ted wondered why they hid their physical nature from him, communicating only through tele- pathy or dreamlike, dimly remembered encounters. Until he had more objective confirmation of the reality of UFOs, Ted decided, he couldn’t be sure just who was communicating with him. Such was his state of mind one evening as he sat watching Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He'd seen it before, but this time Ted’s attention was caught by a scene in which a small round light was shown flying in and around a UFO. Orange and red, with quick movements, it behaved as if it were somehow controlled by an invisible umbilical cord. “T wonder what that was all about,” he mused, mildly curious, but a few nights later, when part of that movie scene was reenacted right in his own house, his curiosity turned to amazement. After retiring for the night, Ted awoke from sleep with a sudden start, his heart racing. He looked around the dimly lit room, thinking more uninvited guests were about to arrive. He felt his panic surge as a round sphere slowly floated toward him from across the room near the ceiling. He’d seen it just as it made its entrance through the bedroom wall. About the size of a basketball, it shimmered with a red and orange glow. Ted thought that it would probably look like a ball of fire if it were seen moving rapidly in total darkness. Ted closed his eyes for a few seconds, hoping that per- haps he was hallucinating or holding an image from a very vivid dream still in his mind. But when he opened his eyes, the ball of light was still there, only now it had moved much nearer. In fact, it was now directly over him, forcing him to look straight up to see it. The light was within arm’s reach, and in spite of his almost paralyzing fear, Ted slowly lifted his hands to touch the floating sphere. To his amazement, a voice commanded him to stop. The voice was somewhat mechanical, and it sounded as if it came Masquerade of Angels 27