Pagan's Ark Read online

  He stood up slowly, still feeling dizzy but also anxious to get off the ship as quickly as his legs could move. He stepped down the steps that led to the hatchway and then leapt from the craft to the tarmac of the air force base. He was still bleeding from the wound to his leg and felt like he'd been hit by a bus, but tried to turn a grimace to a smile as he held his hands above his head.

  "Don't shoot," he called. "I come in peace." He resisted an almost irresistible urge to demand that they take him to their leader.

  CHAPTER 13

  May 20, 1951

  Bill Donovan found himself rather pleased with the looks of amazement on the faces of both the Holy Father and Bernardino Nogara as he laid out the photographic evidence across the Pope’s conference table.

  “What... what will you do with it?” Nogara eventually asked, once he had taken a moment to compose himself. It would have been a rare man indeed who wasn’t shaken to the core by such a revelation.

  “Research,” said Donovan. “Try to develop an understanding of how it works. But it will take time. We barely know where to begin, to be perfectly honest.”

  “And Father Paulson? When will he be returning to Rome?” the Pope asked.

  “Clarence will be remaining in America for the foreseeable future,” said Donovan. “In the circumstances, I think it’s best for everyone.”

  “I’m surprised he is willing to walk away from his research.”

  “He’s not walking away. The Verus Foundation has offered him every cooperation.”

  “Not returning to Rome...” said the Pope. “Is he leaving the church?”

  Donovan shook his head. “Not at all. But he has requested you consider appointing him as a papal envoy to Verus, Your Holiness.”

  “I am vexed the Father is not here in person to make this request.”

  “He harbors a concern for his own safety.”

  The Pope nodded. This much he had worked out for himself. “I will have to pray on the matter,” said Pius.

  “Of course. Thank you, Holy Father” said Donovan. He rose to his feet, bowed to the Pope, and departed. Nogara followed him out. When the Pope was safely out of earshot, Donovan said, “Mr Nogara, you need to make this happen. With my help, Clarence can be a great asset for you in America. I can connect him to a world of financiers and new business opportunities.” Nogara said nothing, but was clearly enamored by the prospect. “Oh, and one more thing: I need you to get me back into that vault. There is something I need to retrieve for Father Paulson.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” said Nogara. “I shall let them know you’re coming.”

  ***

  Standing alone in the archive’s subterranean vault, he took a moment to consider the beauty and symmetry of Utnapishtim’s sarcophagus. He realized he had never before stopped to consider the method of its construction. Now it seemed obvious it was the product of the same technology that built the spacecraft. It was in remarkably good shape considering it had spent several millennia buried on Mount Serabit. The dust and dirt still clinging to it had been the only thing that sullied its surface. He knew like it was his own memory that the box remained in pristine condition. It appeared now just as it had when the Ryl had first condemned Utnapishtim to entombment.

  He also knew now exactly the combination of symbols he had to touch to open it and set him free.

  He lifted the lid slowly. It was heavy, but moved easily. He swung it all the way open and then gazed upon Utnapishtim in the flesh for the first time. He was so tall — far larger than he had appeared to them in spirit form. His hands were crossed across his chest, eyes closed.

  But the process of awakening had already begun. Slowly his fingers began to move. Then his eyes opened. He caught sight of Donovan and a smile crept slowly across his youthful, ancient face.

  EPILOGUE

  Leaked notes detail secret research into

  ‘intact’ alien spacecraft

  MELBOURNE — July 20, 2019

  Did a US military intelligence chief meet with an astrophysicist in a Nevada car park to discuss a top-secret research program to back-engineer an alien spacecraft?

  This explosive suggestion has been revealed in a document recently released “anonymously” on the internet, purporting to be detailed notes of their conversation written by the scientist.

  In these notes, the intelligence chief tells all he knows of a research program to analyze an "intact craft" that was "not of this Earth".

  The notes have caused a major stir among UFO researchers in the US, Canada and Australia since finding their way into the public domain earlier this year.

  The transcript went public at the behest of an Australian — Melbourne architect James Rigney — who happens to be keenly interested in both the US space industry and the UFO subject.

  Mr Rigney said he was simply the right man on the spot at the right time when those two worlds intersected.

  He said he was allowed to copy the transcript, headed “EWD notes” (the initials of their alleged author, Eric W. Davis) by a friend from the space community. That friend had access to the personal files of Apollo 14 astronaut and UFO researcher Dr Edgar Mitchell after he died in February 2016.

  Mr Rigney said he didn’t know what to do with the material. Eventually, he handed it to Canadian UFO researcher Grant Cameron.

  Several months later, it was published anonymously online.

  The EWD notes have been talked about incessantly on Reddit and in UFO-related chat rooms, but until now the story has failed to gain the attention of the mainstream media.

  Primarily because authenticating the material is very difficult — yet there are compelling reasons to believe the notes are genuine.

  They allegedly record details of a 2002 meeting between Dr Davis and Admiral Thomas Wilson.

  They are not a complete transcript. The material consists of notes and dot points, along with a two-page letter written to Dr Davis by another interested onetime military insider (Commander Will Miller) about similar matters.

  In 2002, Admiral Wilson was deputy director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

  At that time, Dr Davis worked for the National Institute for Discovery Science, a research organization based in Nevada, funded by US aerospace billionaire and UFO believer Robert Bigelow.

  If the Admiral did open up to Dr Davis, it was because they both held US Government security clearances.

  When asked about the EWD notes, Admiral Wilson denied such a conversation ever took place.

  Which is arguably unsurprising, considering the notes quote him telling Dr Davis: "If you blow my trust, I'll deny meeting you, deny everything said, won't meet with any more people to talk about this topic."

  Dr Davis is currently chief science officer at Texas science firm EarthTech International where, according to the company website, his research projects include propulsion physics for faster-than-light space travel.

  Dr Davis has pointedly avoided numerous opportunities to deny the authenticity of the material.

  Responding via email, Dr Davis said he could not comment specifically “as I still retain US Government (USG) security clearances and remain bound by the secrecy oaths I have taken, I believe it is in the best interest of the USG and myself not to comment on any documents that purport to describe classified USG programs or information”.

  Yet Dr Davis could have denied the material was genuine without invoking his secrecy oaths — as Admiral Wilson did.

  According to the notes, their 2002 conversation occurred in the back seat of a car in the parking lot of a Nevada business.

  American UFO researcher Richard Dolan has, for several months, been telling the world he is certain the EWD notes are genuine.

  He said an "impeccable" source first showed him this material in 2006, but at that time Mr Dolan wasn’t allowed to keep a copy.

  "I'll never forget the chill down my spine when I read the words 'not of this Earth ... not made by man'," Mr Dolan said.

  "The first
and most important point here is what UFO researchers like myself and others have been saying for years — there is a black budget unacknowledged special access program (SAP) to study ET tech, plain and simple," he said.

  The leaked transcript records the Admiral explaining how he tracked down the top-secret program and his anger that it was operating without military or governmental oversight.

  According to the notes, Admiral Wilson told Dr Davis he met three people from a black budget research program — one of them being the program director — who told him they were trying to back-engineer "an intact craft they believed could fly" and that "it was technology that was not of this Earth — not made by man — not by human hands".

  Admiral Wilson told Dr Davis he was angry that the program was operating without official oversight by the Pentagon. He said the program had been operating for years, but that they had been making “very slow progress” in trying to understand and exploit the technology.

  The transcript also refers to a 1997 meeting between Admiral Wilson and a group of UFO researchers — Steven Greer, Lieutenant Commander Will Miller and Edgar Mitchell.

  For more than 20 years, Dr Greer has spoken loud and proud about how they briefed the Admiral on evidence of a top-secret research program into alien spacecraft operating without government oversight.

  Intriguingly, Admiral Wilson has confirmed the 1997 meeting did occur "out of courtesy to a former astronaut and a Navy captain".

  But Admiral Wilson insisted neither he nor his staff acted on that information.

  Why would a senior intelligence official fail to check into such explosive information upon hearing about it for the first time? Admiral Wilson isn’t saying.

  "I took briefings from folks in that timeframe [1997] and I told them I had no intention of following it up," Admiral Wilson said.

  A Pentagon spokesperson said the US Department of Defense would not comment on the leaked transcript.

  Yet UFOs, now rebranded unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), have come under renewed scrutiny since December 2017 when the Pentagon admitted it had been running a secret investigation into credible sightings.

  The man running that program, Luis Elizondo, quit the US Defense Department, citing his frustration that the information wasn’t being taken seriously enough.

  In March 2018, Mr Elizondo — who by then had been hired by To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA) — accused the US Government of ignoring evidence of alien craft in the skies, releasing video showing a US Air Force jet tailing an object with remarkable speed and maneuverability.

  In late May 2019, Mr Elizondo told Fox News reporter Tucker Carlson he believed the US Government knew a lot more than it was letting on.

  Asked whether he believed the US Government had debris from a UFO in its possession, Mr Elizondo replied: "Unfortunately Tucker, I really have to be careful of my NDA [non-disclosure agreement], I really can't go into a lot more detail than that, but simply put — yes."

  Thanks for reading Pagan’s Ark ––––––––

  I hope you had as much fun reading this story as I did writing it.

  'Wild' Bill Donovan will be back in Capitol Saucers, my upcoming novel about America's 'Year of the UFO' — 1952 — when saucers buzzed Washington D.C. for two weekends running and credible sightings of unexplained aerial phenomena went sky high for months on end.

  Meanwhile... if you liked this book you will love Sleeping Gods, the first book of my Verus Foundation trilogy — you can download it for FREE from Amazon.