“Maybe some top brass suddenly decided it was the wrong policy to brush it off,” I suggested. “Why the quick change?” demanded Purdy. “Let’s say they sold the _Post_ on covering up the truth, in the interests of security. It’s possible, though I don’t believe it. Or they could simply have fed them a fake story. Either way, why did they rush this contradiction the minute the _Post_ hit the stands?” “Something serious happened,” I said, “after the _Post_ went to press.” “Yes, but what?” Purdy said impatiently. “That’s what we’ve got to find out.” “Does Shallett’s first piece mention Mantell’s death?” “Explains it perfectly. You know what Mantell was chasing? The planet Venus!” “That’s the Post’s answer?” I said, incredulously. “It’s what the Air Force contract astronomer told Shallett. I’ve checked with two astronomers here. They say that even when Venus is at full magnitude you can barely see it in the daytime even when you’re looking for it. It was only half magnitude that day, so it was practically invisible.” “How’d the Air Force expect anybody to believe that answer?” I said. Purdy shrugged. “They deny it was Venus in this report. But that’s what they told Shallett—that all those Air Force officers, the pilots, the Kentucky state police, and several hundred people at Madisonville mistook Venus for a metallic disk several hundred feet in diameter.” “It’s a wonder Shallett believed it.” “I don’t think he did. He says if it wasn’t Venus, it must have been a balloon.” “What’s the Air Force answer?” I asked Purdy. “Look in the report. They say whatever Mantell chased—they call it a ‘mysterious object’—is still unidentified.” I glanced through the case report, on page five. It quoted Mantell’s radio report that the thing was metallic and tremendous in size. Linked with the death of Mantell was the Lockbourne, Ohio, report, which tied in with what Jack Daly had told me, over a year before. I read the report: “On the same day, about two hours later, a sky phenomenon was observed by several watchers over Lockbourne Air Force Base, Columbus, Ohio. It was described as ‘round or oval, larger than a C-47, and traveling in level flight faster than 500 miles per hour.’ The object was followed from the Lockbourne observation tower for more than 20 minutes. Observers said it glowed from white to amber, leaving an amber exhaust trail five times its own length. It made motions like an elevator and at one time appeared to touch the ground. No sound was heard. Finally, the object faded and lowered toward the horizon.” Purdy buzzed for his secretary, and she brought me a copy of the first _Post_ article. “You can get a copy of this Air Force report in Washington,” Purdy told me. “This is the only one I have. But you’ll find the same answer for most of the important cases—the sightings at Muroc Air Base, the airline pilots’ reports, the disks Kenneth Arnold saw—they’re all unidentified.”