The Case for the UFO - Varo Jessup Edition-pages

Page 93 of 165

Page 93 of 165
The Case for the UFO - Varo Jessup Edition-pages

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There are really at least two important events in this story. The disappearance of the crew can be considered one event, or certainly as one distinct phase of one event. The final disappearance of the ship is another, and perhaps the initial beaching of the boat, without damage, is something to be singled out for attention. The crew must have abandoned the ship—or disappeared—within sight of land. In fact they were within sight of their homeport, and most likely there were fishing boats around in the area. There was no storm to complicate matters. No boat or wreckage came ashore, in spite of the nearness of land. It would be interesting if we could know whether there was damage to masts or rigging. It seem obvious that the ship was close enough to port so that the last and final alteration in course had been made before the aew disappeared, and this fact would enable us to place a maximum limit on the distance from shore at which an "event" could have occurred. The vessel was spoken to about two hours previously, another check on distance, as well as on time. It is one thing for a crew, to vanish without a trace; another for a stranded ship to do likewise. The two disappearances, in quick succession, create an improbability of much higher order. For our present purposes we cannot overlook the disappearance of the ship, for some wreckage should have been seen somewhere, but none was reported, although there was a storm of sufficient violence to make an experienced seagoing population expect to find the ship completely demolished. Experience has taught that the gear, clothes, supplies & comforting atmosphere of The ship FOR i rew are far More Desirable than "EFroze" crew with nothing but fear to guide their actions when they are "unfrozen." Of course if No one is telepathic on board, there is some difficulty; cannot sense friendliness. The crew disappeared, suddenly, unexpectedly, completely, in daylight within sight of the home port, in good weather, and left the dog. A sailor leaving a ship casually, or leisurely, would not abandon the ship's mascot or pet! Now—let's peer into the records a bit closer. First the crew. Do you begin to see a pattern? Complete and sudden disappearance, with no time to leave a record of any kind, from a ship under sail, in calm weather. A very high order of selectivity—so high as to demand that purposefulness be considered. A dexterity for segregation beyond the capability of natural forces in one case, much less in a long sequence of events. A disappearance almost impossible to explain except as upward. But in this case, the disappearance of the crew is but one phase, and there is evidence of continued application of intelligence—from above. As if the force, which abducted the crew, might have some element of compassion for the owners of the cargo, the unfortunate ship was brought carefully to shore, and gently grounded, high on the sand, "miraculously, as if lifted by giant hands." What better description can there be of a ship being levitated by an intelligently directed force from above? But even that is not all. The ship lay quietly on the beach until the undamaged cargo was unloaded. Then—disappearance. Yes, we know there was a storm, a big one. Yes, storms do queer things. But this storm, with all the delicacy of a watchmaker, removed all of a large ship...hull, spars, rigging, hatchcovers, deck rear, dunnage, small boats—everything. Took it off the beach where experienced salvors could do nothing with it...took it away, completely, suddenly finally—without trace. Are we to keep on forever attributing this high order of dexterity and selectivity to untutored storms and whirlwinds? In the disappearances we certainly have an intimation, however slight, of levitation...of something operating from above, with great and decisive power, and suddenness of action. Whatever it may be, it seems to favor isolated places and ships. There is without doubt, an element of our old friend: selectivity, 93