"Do you know what kind of country you headed into?" White Spirit then asked. "I do not," replied Dorothy. "Very few travelers have ventured this far," said White Spirit. "You are headed for UFOland." "Everyone looked at each other in surprise. "UFOland," repeated the Scarecrow. "I have heard of such things as UFOs but I have never seen one." "What does UFO mean?" asked the Lion. "Unidentified Flying Object," said the Tin Woodman. "And I've seen one." "You have?" said everyone in unison. "Well, it was a flying object and I couldn't identify it. It was a hovering round object which glowed with different colors and then it zigzagged all over the sky. But I have never seen a UFO person." "Well, you will be seeing some soon," said White Spirit. "It will be a very interesting experience for you all." * Chapter Eighteen: UFOland * Suddenly, a strange glow came over everyone -- a sort of alternating blue and orange light. A voice said, "Welcome to UFOland." The light expanded to reveal a man in a glistening white garment molded to the contour of his body. His eyes were large and luminous and seemed to reflect a great depth of understanding. He spoke again. "Greetings in the light, my beloved friends. I am Oxal of Arcturas. UFOland is a base for our ships." "I've heard of many sightings of UFOs" said Dorothy. "But, until now, I didn't know for sure if they were real." "Many sightings seen by earth's inhabitants are not real," replied Oxal. "But many /are/ real, and the time is approaching when we shall reveal this. Our present mission is to prepare the mortal mind to accept this truth. Otherwise, great confusion would result, and that is not our intent." "What is your intent, sir?" asked the Tin Woodman, rather nervously. "The answer to that, my metallic friend, is quite simple," replied Oxal. "It is to assist those of planet earth to a greater understanding of their place in the universe. In earth's galaxy alone, there are more than one hundred billion stars or suns just like earth's own sun. One out of every two of these suns have solar systems with one inhabitable planet on which intelligent life exists. And since there are hundreds of billions of other galaxies in the universe, life in its many forms has manifested in great abundance. "Many of these are advanced civilizations. Some far more advanced than those of earth, while many are not as advanced. We here in UFOland are representatives from advanced planets of every galaxy. We have a permanent base here, from which we observe earth and discuss ways to help her people to advance. "Many earth scientists are being helped by us. They are generally unaware that this help is being given, for we work with them during sleep or when they are in a very relaxed state. We convey many ideas to them.