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Genesis - Watcher of the Skies

Throughout the last week, UFOs have graced the headlines of both the New York Times and NPR's website. It turns out that the Pentagon's Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program has been collecting accounts of the military's contact with unidentified phenomena between 2007 and 2012. They've even got official videos that are, at this point, inexplicable. Check out this one recorded by two F-18 pilots.



Tonight's addition to the mixtape is most definitely the early-Genesis classic, Watcher of the Skies. It was a tough pick. I toyed with the idea of selecting Yes' Arriving UFO or The Byrds Mr. Spaceman. However, neither Jon Anderson nor Roger McGuinn had the imagination nor impudence to dress up like extraterrestrial royalty as they sang their odes to flying saucers. Peter Gabriel clinches the selection with his peculiar number, sung to a 6/4 time signature, in full make up and garish robe. Watcher of the Skies imagines a barren Earth surveyed by alien visitors. It has always been one of my top 10 progressive rock songs for its integration of visual and sonic concepts.



Now, for my story about a watcher of the sky.

I've seen a UFO. Not just something unidentified. I was witness to something completely extraordinary in the night skies of Puerto Angel, a quaint beach town in Oaxaca, Mexico in the fall of 2005. All of this news of UFOs has stirred up the memory for me. I've never shared this publicly -- only with a few close friends. I'll make it short. I was lying on the beach with a group of backpackers from my hostel, star gazing, after a night of fiesta along the beach front cantinas. I only share this detail to provide a context for why I would be sprawled on my back in the sand alongside a group of backpackers. In no manner was I inebriated. My senses were sharp. As I focused on the darkness above the din of crashing waves, something came into sight. At first, I thought it was a plane. However, it was completely silent and moved in a manner in which I've never been able to rationalize. It was glowing, without visible, external lights. I would describe it as phosphorescent. The craft, with wings and what appeared to be a tail had a biological texture. I did not recognize it as a machine, rather something living. It approached like a glider and then... it paused, inching over the beach about 100 feet in the sky -- as if hovering. Finally, it sped inland beyond our sight at an inexplicable speed and without sound. That was the shocking part of the whole experience. It was close. It was massive. It was silent. I have replayed the incident in my mind hundreds of times. None of it ever adds up to something I can explain. And, so I won't really try to explain it. I'll just tell the story and wait for the big reveal.

The author in Acapulco shortly after his experience with a UFO.

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