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41 "Oh, that one." Steele looked down at the roll he was buttering. "I thought that case was fully explained. Wasn't he chasing a balloon?" "The Air Force says it's still unidentified." I told him what I had learned. "Apparently you're right--it's either an American or a Soviet missile." "That particular one, maybe. But there have been several hundred seen over here. If they found their controls were haywire, they wouldn't keep testing the things until they'd tao corrected that." "T still can't believe it's our weapon," he said slowly. "They wouldn't have Air Force pilots alerted to chase the things. And I happen to how they do." "There's something queer about this missile angle," I said. "That saucer was seen at the same time by people a {p. 47} hundred and seventy-five miles apart. To be that high in the sky, and still look more than two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, it must have been enormous." "To be seen at points that far apart, it had to be over thirty miles high," I told him. "It would have to be huge to show up at all." different times." I let it drop. "The thing Captain Mantell was chasing near Fort Knox, before he died." "After what you've told me," said Steele, "I can't believe it's ours. It must be Russian." "They'd be pretty stupid to test it over here." "You said it was probably out of control." The waiter came with the soup, and Steele was silent until he left. Steele didn't answer for a moment. "Obviously, that was an illusion," he finally answered. "I'd discount those estimates." "Even Mantell's? And the Godman Field officers'?" "Not knowing the thing's height, how could they judge accurately?" He shook his head. "I can't believe those reports are right. It must have been sighted at