It was a hot and clear night in Las Vegas. The car that I was driving was struggling to make it up through the pass that leads to Pahrump NV. It was quite a few years ago when driving up this same pass on this same type of night that a famous radio personality spotted a UFO. I would not have the same experience that Art Bell had so many years ago.
The only sound that was audible in the night was the roar of the engine when all of a sudden a loud and sudden bang interrupted what was a carefree drive. For some odd reason my first thought was of a gun shot. Then the more reasonable explanation of a blown tire entered my mind. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and inspected the damage that had occurred to the rear left quarter panel. Once again an animal had darted out from the side of the hill and ran right into my car. Yet another insurance claim that would need to be filed.
Perhaps if Rigel was a tad closer then 700 light years away the night would be a bit brighter and help me spot animals desperately trying to commit suicide. I decided to drive on and worry about the pictures that would need to be taken for the insurance company in the morning.
When I walked into my house there were no lights on. I made my way into the kitchen, turned on one single light and sat down. There was a book on the table. It was a teens novel, a young person’s fantasy, so it must have been my sons. I thought for a minute that a young adult novel, as the one my son was reading, would probably hold no interest to me. After all the closest I ever got to liking science fiction was Star Trek.
There was something about Captain Kirk barking out absurd orders to Checkoff that just captured my interest. After all who else is going to sound convincing saying ,”We have to hot foot it to Gliese at warp speed.” It was also the odd subject matters of the show that caught my attention. I can still remember the episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles”. Really amazing I can remember that since it was shown on TV way back in 1967.
I woke up suddenly when the air conditioner kicked on. It was then I realized that I was dreaming and that I didn’t just drive over the Highway 160 pass to Pahrump. I checked the garage and my car was not damaged. I went back to sleep.