John A. Keel WHY UFOS

craft and enter another one that had landed nearby. There,he said, he found twenty people, all of them much tallerthan he was, and they took him for a ride into outer space.They told him that they were from a planet called Zomdic,which was in another solar system and was unknown to ourscientists. Their craft could not operate in damp weather,they allegedly explained to him, apparently because theywere surrounded by some kind of electrified field.They also told him, he said, that the saucers were usedonly in the vicinity of the earth and could not operate inouter space."The inhabitants of your planet will upset the balance ifthey persist in using force instead of harmony," Mr. Cookasserts that he was told. "Warn them of the danger.""Nobody will listen to me," he says he protested."Or anyone else either," one of the giant "spacemen"snapped.Mr. Cook was deposited several hours later in the veryspot where he had first been picked up. He related his storyto the authorities and then quietly returned to his garden inthe English countryside. Like the majority of all knowncontactees, he did not write any books or go on any lecturetours. Zomdic was never heard from again, either.Miss Thelma Roberts of Britain's Flying Saucer Reviewinterviewed Mr. Cook, and he showed her a burn on theback of his left hand and told her he had received it when hehad left the saucer and had failed to remove his hand fromthe ladder's railing before his feet touched the wet ground.Another contactee who has refused to make any fussover his purported experience with "the people from outerspace" is a young Italian engineer named Luciano Galli,who runs a small company on the outskirts of Rome. Hisstory is far more unbelievable than Mr. Cook's, butwhether you believe it or not, it contains all of the classicelements which appear in many similar yarns. Theseelements include terrestrials—people just like you andme—who are in some way connected with the UFOphenomenon. Or maybe they really are our ultraterrestrialsin disguise.Signore Galli left his home after lunch on July 7, 1957,and was headed back to his plant when a black Fiat pulledup and a tall, dark-skinned man with piercing jet-blackeyes spoke to him."Do you remember me?" the man asked. Galli had seenthe man before on the streets of Rome and, for some