UFO

  There was a coffeehouse in Columbia back in the late 60's called "The UFO".  It was mainly for those folks who opposed the war in Vietnam and were working for peace.  It closed in 1970 due to some backlash from the conservative community.  I never got to go to it, because I was still in high school, but I would have liked to have experienced it.  This story is not about that place.

 Many people who have seen UFOs have been called "crazy" by those who don't believe.  I suppose some can be explained, but many cannot.  I have seen three such incidents.

 The first was in 1964.  I looked up during the day and saw a silver object floating across the sky.  It was at a great altitude.  Higher than the usual plane would be.  I told my mother what I had seen, and she suggested that I write someone at the University of South Carolina to ask them about it.  I was only 10 at the time.  I got a letter back from a retired rear admiral in the Navy who told me that it was a weather balloon.  Anytime they couldn't explain something, they usually said it was a weather balloon.  Maybe it was, but I know what I saw.

 The second time was driving back to college on I-26 near Greenville.  It was at night.  I saw a very fast light streak across the sky just above the horizon.  All of a sudden, the light stopped on a dime and turned around to fly the other way.  It then raced out into the distance.  I never saw it again.  A plane could not have done that maneuver, and neither could a weather balloon.  There was no explanation for what I saw.

 The third time was even more bizarre.  I was driving home from seeing a Crosby, Stills and Nash concert in 1997.  I had just turned onto Two Notch Road, when a bright light illuminated the darkness.  I looked up and saw a triangle of red, yellow and blue lights hovering over my car.  As I proceeded down the street, the triangle followed me for a few blocks and then disappeared.  It couldn't have been more than 50 feet above my car.  If you have ever played the game Simon, the lights looked kind of like that.  Now, I have to say that there was a cloud of marijuana smoke in the air inside the concert venue, and you might say that I could have been under the influence of that smoke, when I saw this object, but having had experience with marijuana in the past, I don't think I was high.  I wasn't drunk either.  

 These events happened before there were drones.  They were UFOs.  Except for the possible weather balloon, they didn't appear to be manufactured by humans.  I believe that we are not alone in the universe.  The vastness of space could support other life forms.  In the immortal words of Sheldon Cooper:  "I'm not crazy.  My mother had me tested".  No truer words describe me.