Page Content (OCR)
the place. They asked me a lot of questions while their men searched the place with all kinds of instruments. They seemed to know just what they were doing.” In the Air Force files, the object Eddie Laxton saw is officially recorded as ‘‘unidentified.’’ As for the man, Eddie claims, ‘“‘He looked just like you or me. If I met him tomorrow in a bar, I would know him instantly.”’ Among the great heaps of neglected and ignored UFO data, we find hundreds of ‘“‘minipeople” accounts. These are very rarely published anywhere because they are so unbelievable. Most of them are identical to the fairy and gnome stories of yesteryear. The minipeople are only a few inches in height. Some dress like spacemen, complete with transparent helmets, while others are described in much the same way as the Irish leprechauns. Witnesses to these events can experience conjunctivitis, akinesia (paralysis), amnesia, and the other effects often noted by wit- nesses to more conventional UFO events. Many contactees admit that they have seen minipeople cavorting about on their furniture and even riding around in miniature flying saucers. One of the strangest minipeople stories I have received came from a young woman in Seattle, Washington. In the latter part of August 1965, she awoke around 2 A.M. and discovered she could not move a muscle or make a sound. Her window was open, and suddenly a tiny, football- sized, dull gray object appeared. It floated through the window and hovered over the carpet near her bed. She said she felt no desire to leap up or cry out as three tripod logs lowered from the object, and it settled to the floor. A small ramp descended from it, and five or six tiny people clambered out and seemed to work on some kind of repairs on the object. They wore tight-fitting clothing. When their job was finished, they went up the ramp again, and the object took off and sailed out the window. Then she was finally able to move. She was certain she was wide awake. The case was investigated by J. Russell Jenkins of Seattle. You can see why very few witnesses to this type of event would be anxious to tell anyone about their experiences. And you can see why almost none of these stories ever appears in print, except in occult- oriented literature. Nevertheless, if we hope to assess the true UFO situation, we must examine all of these stories. We can learn nothing by considering only those episodes that are emotionally and intellectually acceptable to us. Fewer than two percent of the known UFO sightings are reported to the Air Force at all. Likewise, the various UFO organizations receive only The Physical Non-Evidence / 161