The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon Page B

meeting at the National Security Agency at six o'clock in the morning and told that it was urgent that all the witnesses be found quickly? Is there a cover-up? And ifso ... why?
    Later that day, a press conference was held in Geneva in the austere offices of the Swiss Ministry of Internal Affairs. There were more than fifty reporters in the room and an overflow crowd outside in the corridor. There were representatives from television, radio, and the press from more than a dozen countries, many of them loaded down with microphones and television gear. They all seemed to be speaking at once.
    "We've heard reports that it was not a weather balloon. -.."
    "Is it true that it was a flying saucer?"
    "There are rumors that there were alien bodies aboard the ship.
    "Was one of the aliens alive?"
    "Is the government trying to hide the truth from the people? The press officer raised his voice to regain control.
    "Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a simple misunderstanding. We get calls all the time. People see satellites, shooting stars... Page 38
    Sidney Sheldon - Doomsday Conspiracy
    Isn't it interesting that reports of UFOs are always made anonymously?
    Perhaps this caller really believed it was a UFO, but in actuality it was a weather balloon that fell to the ground. We have arranged transportation to take you to it. If you will follow me, please Fifteen minutes later, two busloads of reporters and television cameras were on their way to Uetendorf to see the remains of a weather-balloon crash. When they arrived, they stood in the wet grass surveying the torn metallic envelope. The press officer said, "This is your mysterious flying saucer. It was sent aloff from our air base in Vevey. To the best of our knowledge, ladies and gentlemen, there are no unidentified flying objects that our government has not been able to explain satisfactorily, nor to our knowledge, are there any extraterrestrials visiting us. It is our government's firm policy that if we should come across any such evidence, we would immediately make that information available to the public. If there are no further questions..." Hangar 17 at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia was locked in complete and rigid security. Outside, four armed marines guarded the perimeter of the building, and inside, three high-ranking Army officers stayed on alternate watches of eight hours each, guarding a sealed room inside the hangar. None of the officers knew what he was guarding. Besides the scientists and doctors who were working inside, there had been only three visitors permitted in the sealed chamber. The fourth visitor was just arriving. He was greeted by Brigadier General Paxton, the officer in charge of security.
    "Welcome to our menagerie."
    "I've been looking forward to this."
    "You won't be disappointed. Come this way, please." Outside the door of the sealed room was a rack containing four white, sterile suits that completely covered the body.
    "Would you please put one on?" the general asked.
    "Certainly." Janus slipped into the suit. Only his face was visible through the glass mask. He put large white slippers over his shoes, and the general led him to the entrance of the sealed room. The marine guard stepped aside, and the general opened the door.
    "In here."
    Janus entered the chamber and looked around. In the center of the room was the spaceship. On white autopsy tables at the other side lay the bodies of the two aliens. A pathologist was performing an autopsy on one of them.
    General Paxton directed the visitor's attention to the spaceship.
    "We're dealing here with what we believe to be a scout ship," General Paxton explained.
    "We're sure it has some way of communicating directly with the mother ship."
    The two men moved closer to examine the spacecraft. It was approximately thirty-five feet in diameter. The interior was shaped like a pearl, had an expandable ceiling, and contained three couches that resembled recliner chairs. The walls were covered with panels