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The Pros And Cons Of Alien Abductions

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Thanksgiving 1997 in San Francisco began as a normal day. Fog blanketed the streets early in the morning but lifted by noon. My brother Gordon was overdue for dinner. This wasn't unusual as he lived across town and the buses were often late. The doorbell finally chimed. "Hey," I said, opening the door. Gordon's pale face looked strained. A sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead. I pulled him into the house and murmured words of concern about his appearance. His re-rimmed eyes searched my face as if to judge whether to share something with me. I felt a premonition of dread but ignored it. After several false starts, what he said was as unexpected as it was astonishing. "I was scanned by aliens this morning.” Gordon wasn’t given to flights of fantasy. He was a pilot and aeronautical engineer by training, but with feet rooted in the ground. Gordon had an abiding faith in the certainty of numbers, the logic of physics, and the reason of hard science. While he enjoyed science fiction movies, he considered them as mere entertainment. Like me, he chuckled at stories of alien abductions. He viewed people who saw Area 51 as a vast government conspiracy or proof of alien visitation as slightly "wacko." This is why his story astounded me. “You what?” I laughed. "For a moment I thought you said you were scanned by aliens." My forced smile faded at the look on his face. "Sit down. Let me get you some wine." I ran to the kitchen. My heart raced. When I returned, he was

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