"If it is, I don't know it," said Al, "and neither does the Air
Force."

After I left the magazine section, I tried several officers I knew.
Two of them agreed with Splitt. The third didn't.

"I've been told it's all bunk," he said, "but you get the feeling
they've trying to convince themselves. They act like people near a
haunted house. They'll swear it isn't haunted--but they won't go near
it."

Later, I asked a security major for a copy of the Project "Saucer"
report.

"We're out of copies right now," he said. "I'll send you one next
week."

I asked him bluntly what he thought the saucers were.

"I doubt if anybody has the full answer," he said seriously. "There's
been some hysteria--also a few mistakes. But many reports have been
made by reliable pilots, including our own. You can't laugh those
off."

As I drove home, I thought over what I'd heard. All I had learned was
that the Air Force seemed divided. But that could be a smoke screen.
In less than twenty-four hours, I received my first suspicious tip. It
was about ten A.M. when my phone rang.