The Last Christmas On Earth

EPISODE III-8

"I am sure that at this point you will probably have understood what we are going to talk about here today, but a refresh on some salient points will certainly not hurt your scientist's mind so attached to tangible things," he began, the projector began to transmit the images of a series of wonderful and now famous drawings engraved on the wheat fields.

"As you know, the Crop Circles have been a widespread phenomenon around the world for many years, even though their appearances are mostly concentrated in England. Extremely prepared people have dedicated their lives studying these phenomena, some of them claim that they are the work of some prankster while others affirm that without a doubt at least a small part of them is of a non-human matrix."

"You mean extraterrestrial?" Proposed Lia Robson.

"Exactly, Miss. Now we are not yet able to give definite answers, because no one has ever managed to film an alien intent on creating one of these extraordinary works. The only thing we have in our hands today is the famous video of light globes flying over a field while forming a new crop. But despite the uncertainty that still reigns over the issue, in many cases the analyzes carried out in the places of the finds make us lean precisely for the alien hypothesis. These are experiments that I will not explain in order not to dwell but for sure they concern the alterations of magnetism and the thresholds of radioactivity that occur on the spot, the stems of wheat plants and the insects found dead nearby."

A skeptical murmur arose among the scientists.

"Be quiet, please. Later each of you will have all the time you need to express your opinions, - the President intervened, - but for now let the professor speak."

"As I said," he continued, "most of these phenomena occur in Britain. The drawings represent very fascinating combinations of geometric figures. The first of which we heard about seemed mostly to be unproductive, but it seems that in recent years something has changed. According to some scholars, these drawings would increasingly contain important coded messages. Now, if you have the goodwill to listen to me for a few more minutes, I will show you the two most striking cases," the professor informed them, then paused and looked at the President to interrupt the chatter in the room.

"Please excuse me for repeating it again," he said, "but I ask you once again to pay your utmost attention to everything the professor will say, because it is part of the basics we will use during our trip" he explained. Immediately afterward, he exchanged a glance of understanding with a bespectacled man, armed with papers and pen sitting on his left, he nodded and the President nodded back to the professor, who resumed his exposition.

"The most powerful radio telescope in the world is located at the Arecibo Astronomical Observatory in Puerto Rico. From there, on 16 November 1974, the S.E.T.I. sent a radio message in binary code to a portion of the galaxy that counts about three hundred thousand stars. That radio message explained who we are and where we are, how many we are and what we look like. Followed some purely scientific data regarding our DNA, our organic chemistry and other news. The Crop Circle that you will see now, it appeared in August 2001 in the vicinity of the Chibolton Radio Telescope, in English Hampshire.

It was anticipated by other great glyphs that had appeared a few days before, drawings of imposing size that represented, according to the experts, a galaxy and a radio message, respectively. The Crop we are talking about is known as Arecibo Reply and many argue that is the clear sign that someone took the trouble to respond to Arecibo's message »he explained pointing to the famous pictogram imprinted on the screen. "As you can see, this is an extremely similar design to the message sent via radio in 1974 by S.E.T.I., but if we carefully compare the two graphic representations we will note some important differences. There are nine differences, but here we will only mention the most important ones. The information that emerges from the second drawing is the following: as far as the atomic elements that constitute the basis for their life are, the Silicon besides Carbon, yet their DNA would be equipped with a third helix, which would differentiate them enormously from us, genetically speaking. There are differences from us also in the shape and size of the humanoids: the description that the author of that answer describes himself closely looking like the famous example of the "Gray", just one meter high and with a disproportionate head, and big eyes. The one similar to Spielberg's E.T., so to speak."

The professor paused again and the President took that opportunity to observe the reactions of the scientists who continued to look alternately at the screen and the lecture notes in their possession, exchanging uncertain looks between them. But among all those present, those who were really incredulous were few, the simple and direct approach of the professor had dropped them so well on the subject as to make everything he had told extremely realistic. Professor Hamilton allowed a few moments to elapse so that the atmosphere would envelop the audience more deeply, then he decided to resume the explanation because they still had many arguments to deal with. He coughed to regain the attention of those present, pressed a button on the remote control and a new image formed on the wall screen.

"Exactly one year later, in the same area, this pictogram appeared instead. It is composed of two drawings and it is known as "Alien Face". There is not much to interpret here, you can clearly see the face of a "Gray", placed next to a CD, but what it means is hard to say. Without going into technical details that do not interest us, I can say that CD contains some important intel, it is the kind of notions that an ordinary man who decides to produce something like that, in order to make a joke, generally does not possess. However, assuming that someone is able to create works of such complexity and precision, it is not clear how they can cause on animals and plants all those collateral effects I mentioned earlier, both on the spot and in the surrounding area. Some say that essentially the mysterious authors of the Crops would have given us the key to communicate with them with this second design, but if things are really like that, we have not yet been able to decipher it. In fact, while continuing to study them thoroughly, no one has yet managed to give the pictograms a logical and coherent interpretation.

Some time ago, an anonymous Internet user claimed to have succeeded in translating part of the text, which would more or less read as follows: "Beware of the bearers of false gifts and their broken promises. Much pain awaits, but still time. Believe. There's some good out there. We reject deception". But the most are skeptical about it, also because the translation seems nothing more than the delusional phrase of some fanatic."

"Don't be offended, Professor, but to me, this seems like a little story for children," said Carl Viewer, leading exponent of the world of quantum physics, after raising his arm to speak.

"I am happy that among you there is someone with the gift of doubt. But believe me, despite the many hypotheses and attempts to reproduce these designs over the years, even using the most advanced technological means such as GPS systems, the only certain conclusion we have reached is that it is difficult to believe that men are able to carry out such amazing works. Especially if they have to do it, as in the last two cases mentioned, of such huge dimensions and in a single night that, as if this were not enough, it rains. Furthermore, those Crops were produced near a camera and radar guarded structure, placed inside a fenced plot dotted with pylons on top of which run high voltage cables," the professor replied. "So, as I just said, despite all our efforts in all these years, we have not yet been able to establish with certainty whether these works are of human or not human origin. And not even to give a certain interpretation of the meaning of the Alien Face" he concluded. At that point, Lia Robson stood up to ask to speak.

"Go ahead," the professor urged her.

"Why did we have to attend such a secret meeting just to talk about things that are already in the public domain? All these things you mentioned before are reported on many Internet sites and are a daily topic of many TV shows."

"Indeed you are absolutely right, Miss Robson, but in reality, this is only a brief introduction so that you can become familiar with the subject. I am sure that each of you already knew what a Crop Circle is and I think that the opposite would be strange, but what has been said so far has only served to prepare you for what I will tell you later. Because I guarantee you that going forward you will hear things that you cannot find written on any website. We will go down so deep that from a certain point it will be impossible to go back."

"Excuse me, but I don't understand," said Summerfield, looking distrustful. "What does it mean we can't go back?"

"Exactly what I said! Later, each of you will have to express your opinion regarding very important issues and your opinions will influence a crucial choice the President has to make. To this end, I already anticipate it, at a certain point of this meeting each of you will be asked who feels like staying to go to the end of this adventure."

"But why?" Summerfield insisted.

"Because from that moment on we will deal with matters that constitute State Secrets, and this could entail considerable consequences in the present and in the future of your lives," the President explained.

"But what is the point of all this, if you have just said yourself that we are talking about very questionable mysteries without a solution?"

"I believe that today there is someone among us who can give us at least some of the answers we are looking for," Professor Hamilton replied, pointing to Margareth, who felt herself blush with embarrassment. Looking around she found she had all eyes on her and then lowered her head, pretending to read the notes.

"Do you believe that young girl is able to solve mysteries around which even scientists all over the world have struggled for years without being able to deal with?" Viewer quipped.

"That's right! In my opinion, with the collaboration of some of you, Dr. Turner is perfectly capable of succeeding," Professor Hamilton replied firmly.

"And how do you intend to do it?" The other insisted, turning to ask it directly to Margareth. She looked at the professor in a silent call for help.

"If you want to wait a few more minutes we will soon start to dispel some doubts, but for now leave Dr. Turner alone, because at the moment she is still unaware of everything, exactly like you," the professor intervened in her defense. "After these two striking cases," he then went on to explain, "the formations continued to appear with increasing frequency and also the complexity of the drawings was growing, almost as if from time to time the previous Crop served as a guide to help us understand the subsequent and so on. What is now on the screen, for example, is stuffed with Mayan symbols, I am right Miss Turner?"

"It should be studied better, but at a glance, I would say that at least it is very similar," she confirmed.

"All this would lead us to this conclusion: if what was assumed so far is true, then presumably the aliens use the Crops to try to warn us from something or someone."