Either way, his purpose was obvious. He hoped to have us swallow the
Soviet-missile answer. If we did, then we would have to keep still,
even though we found absolute proof. Obviously, it would be dangerous
to print that story.

Thinking back, I recalled Steele's apparent attempt to dismiss the
Mantell case. I was convinced now. The Godman Field affair must hold
an important clue that I had overlooked. It might even be the key to
the whole flying saucer riddle.

{p. 49}



CHAPTER VI

SHORTLY after my talk with Steele, I flew to the Coast. For three
weeks I investigated sightings that had been reported by airline and
private pilots and other competent witnesses.

At first, the airline pilots were reluctant to talk. Most of them
remembered the ridicule that had followed published accounts by other
airline men. One pilot told me he had been ordered to keep still about
his experience--whether by the company or the Air Force, he would not
say. But most of them finally agreed to talk, if I kept their names
out of print.

One airline captain--I'll call him Blake--had encountered a saucer at
night. He and his copilot had sighted the object, gleaming, in the
moonlight, half a mile to their left.