Some
mysteries never die or even fade away
ISABEL
WOLSELEY TORREY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Every
so often, a once-buried news story will resurface causing another flurry of interest,
then return to its crypt like feeding sparrows that fly off, then settle down
until disturbed again. Two
mysterious, recently-resurrected accounts particularly intrigue me: Unidentified
Flying Object sightings and D.B. Cooper findings. These stories occurred primarily
on the West Coast, where I lived at the time, but both captured irresistible speculation
nationwide. First,
the UFO subject: Although strange objects in the sky have been reported throughout
history, a spate of sightings occurred especially in the mid-1950s. As expected,
most viewings proved groundless. There was no logical, conventional explanation
for such apparitions; however, investigators were unable to explain some of them
in terms of known phenomena. Even
so, I and many others thought those claiming to have seen "flying saucers"
were a bit daft. At least, that was my thinking until I, too, saw "something"
one day in mid-summer. It
was ripe-pear season in Oregon and our neighbors, who owned such an orchard, had
invited a few friends to glean any fruit left after the professional pickers finished.
Our pastor, his
wife, two others and I were in the group enjoying a social time outdoors, shouting
such helpful tips as, "There's a fat one above you to your right" plus
expressing gratitude for our hosts' generous offer. While
reaching for a choice, just out-of-reach pear, an object in the sky caught my
attention. It appeared as an almost-indefinable, oval-shaped "something,"
rather like a shell-less egg with a red light instead of a yolk. The red light
didn't flash or turn; it pulsated, as does the red dot on an answering machine
or on Caller-ID. I
immediately pointed to the object and asked the one nearest me, "What is
that?" We stared at the object streaking in a straight line from right to
left about 30-degrees above the horizon until disappearing from sight all in the
space of probably five seconds. Neither the pastor nor I subsequently discussed
it with anyone else, fearing we might be considered of unsound mind. But,
when the UFO story surfaced again recently, I told Lawrence my long-ago experience.
He intently asked, "What year did this happen?" "About
1954 or 1955. Why?" He
then said he'd been a volunteer, government "spotter," identifying/reporting
what planes he saw, where and when. During one night, he'd also seen a pulsating
red object, but it remained stationary before suddenly shooting off. In comparing
notes, his sighting occurred during the same time period as mine! And
now the "D.B. Cooper" account is again circulating. Back in November,
1971, a man identified by that name hijacked a jet in Seattle, released its passengers
in exchange for $200,000 cash and parachutes, then jumped out somewhere near the
Oregon border. It
seemed everyone in the Pacific Northwest began looking for Cooper. In 1971 our
six acres of rural, wooded property was directly below the conjectured spot where
Cooper supposedly exited. I
still recall trudging through a waist-high acre of nearly-impenetrable salal,
then trekking our primordial, moss-covered woods, peering into timber tops for
Cooper clues. A
recently-discovered parachute - erroneously thought to be D.B.'s - has revived
his story but whatever happened to him no one knows. The
question, "Exactly what is a UFO?" also remains a mystery. Probably
no one is more curious than me to know the answers. | 
