What if it had been thrown at me in black headlines? Even a peaceful contact by beings from another planet would profoundly affect the world. The story in _True_ might play an important part in that final effect. Carefully done, it could help prepare Americans for the official disclosure. But if it weren’t done right, we might be opening a Pandora’s box. CHAPTER XVI That morning, at _True_, we made the final decisions on how to handle the story. Using the evidence of the Mantell case, the Chiles-Whitted report, Gorman’s mystery-light encounter, and other authentic cases, along with the records of early sightings, we would state our main conclusion: _that the flying saucers were interplanetary_. In going over the mass of reports, Purdy and I both realized that a few sightings did not fit the space-observer pattern. Most of these reports came from the southwest states, where guided-missile experiments were going on. Purdy agreed with Paul Redell that any long-range tests would be made over the sea or unpopulated areas, with every attempt at secrecy. “They might make short-range tests down there in New Mexico and Arizona-maybe over Texas,” he said. “But they’d never risk killing people by shooting the things all over the country.” “They’ve already set up a three-thousand-mile range for the longer runs,” I added. “It runs from Florida into the South Atlantic. And the Navy missiles at Point Mugu are launched out over the Pacific. Any guided missiles coming down over settled areas would certainly be an accident. Besides all that, no missile on earth can explain these major cases.” Purdy was emphatic about speculating on our guided-missile research. “Suppose you analyzed these minor cases that look like missile tests. You might accidentally give away something important, like their range and speeds. Look what the Russians did with the A-bomb hints Washington let out.” It was finally decided that we would briefly mention the guided missiles, along with the fact that the armed services had flatly denied any link with the saucers. “After all, interplanetary travel is the main story,” said Purdy. “And the Mantell case alone proves we’ve been observed from space ships, even without the old records.” The question of the story’s impact worried both of us. public acceptance of intelligent life on other planets would affect almost every phase of our existence-business, defense planning, philosophy, even religion. Of course, the immediate effect was more important. Personally, I thought that most Americans could take even an official announcement without too much trouble. But I could be wrong. “The only yardstick—and that’s not much good—is that ‘little men’ story,” said Purdy. “A lot of people have got excited about it, but they seem more interested than scared.”