People representing all the different aspects of ufology were featured in this live presentation-NASA, the CIA, and people associated with the Roswell Incident, and even the Russian government, which has publicly acknowledged several UFO sightings. In fact, this documentary was done in conjunction with the Russians via satellite. On the evening of the show, representatives from the Russian Embassy came to watch. I was surprised to learn that the Russian government is apparently far more open in its discussion of UFOs than is our own government.
In the early 1990s, Jess was invited on an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for a UFO conference. (He wrote about this in an earlier chapter.) Even though the kids and I had been invited as well, with all our expenses paid, we had no idea who was financing the trip. When Jess tried unsuccessfully to find out, my occasionally overactive imagination kicked in, and I let him know that I was sure we would all wind up dumped in the Potomac River, never to be seen again. Jess really wanted to go, however, so we reached a compromise. I told Jess that he could go if he really wanted to, but that the kids and I were going to stay home.
After Jess arrived, he called home and told me he was staying at the Hilton, and attending a party hosted by the Prince of Lichtenstein, who, as it turns out, was bankrolling the UFO event. Apparently, the prince was interested in UFOs, and the Roswell crash in particular. I could have kicked myself for letting my paranoia keep me from attending what must have been a really spectacular event.
In truth, however, my "paranoia" wasn't that unwarranted. Shortly before receiving the invitation, we had been getting strange phone calls from people who wouldn't identify themselves, always wanting to know where Jess was, or if he had left for a certain lecture or commitment. Many times, the caller would leave a number for Jess to call, yet when Jess tried to call the person back, he would get a recording stating that the number was no longer working. And from the late 1980s to the early '90s, we would get calls in which no one would be on the other end of the line. For a while, it seemed this happened every time we had company-but only when the subject of Roswell was brought up. In fact, it was my mom who first brought to my attention the fact that the phone would mysteriously ring whenever the conversation turned to Roswell. We honestly began to wonder if our home was bugged, though we never found any evidence of this.
As a result of these strange calls, we became very secretive about Jess's meetings and travel itineraries. But still, the calls would come. Somewhere out there, someone was watching. The calls had ended in the early 1990s, but they still had us a bit shaken.
As Jess also related earlier, he received another puzzling phone call shortly before he left for Washington. This was from a person who wanted to meet with him at a location in the U.S. Capitol Building, claiming it was urgent. At this meeting, he asked Jess if we had ever been threatened. Jess told him about the strange, but not exactly threatening, telephone calls, whereupon the man gave him a number to call if we ever felt threatened. It was all very cloak-and-dagger, and had both Jess and I pretty concerned.
In 1994, we were off to California, to the premiere party for the TV movie Roswell, written and produced by Paul Davids, directed by Jeremy Kagan, and starring Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen, and Dwight Yoakum. Kyle MacLachlan played the part of Jess's dad. The script was based on the book UFO Crrash At Roswell by Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt; some credit this movie-which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award-with truly bringing the Roswell Incident into the mainstream. The trip to Hollywood was quite an adventure for our family. Staying in the penthouse suite of the Universal Hilton and riding in limos, it was "country goes to the city!" Our girls were in heaven. In fact, I think this almost made up for the fear, uneasiness, and even embarrassment our kids sometimes felt in regard to the Roswell phenomenon. One of them actually had a very small part in the movie-so small that if you blinked, you would miss her. Her sisters were livid, as they figured that because the story was about her grandfather and father, she could have had more than fifteen seconds of fame.
In 1996, we were off to Paris for an appearance on a French television show. It was, naturally, done in French, so I could only understand Jess's part, and couldn't for the life of me tell you what the other stories were. Partway through Jess's interview, his face changed, and the MC wore a puzzled expression. Apparently, Jess's earphone had been inadvertently disconnected, and he could not hear the interpreter. As you would imagine, this rendered some of his answers completely bizarre. Our friend Kent Jeffrey and I had a hard time not laughing. Kent had been a big supporter of the effort to make the truth about Roswell public, as his father had apparently been in the Air Force, stationed at Roswell. At the time, Kent was trying to get a document known as the Roswell Initiative signed to force the government to release information on Roswell. For some reason, he later abandoned his efforts, and I guess we'll never know what changed his mind.
In July 1997, we chose to attend the 50th anniversary celebration in Roswell. Our youngest daughters had always been frightened about Roswell, so naturally we put off even telling them of our plans to attend, but the time finally had come, and we left for Roswell on one of the few driving trips we've taken. We usually fly, as we are timelimited and Jess is direction-impaired. But this time we thought it would be fun to take a road trip. We set off in the company of good friends, and toured Utah, the Grand Canyon, and Carlsbad Caverns along the way. When we arrived at Roswell, it was like entering another time, or, some would say, another dimension. The streets were crawling with jeeps, driven by people dressed as aliens, some of which were actually quite convincing. In the shop windows were mannequins dressed as aliens. Everywhere you looked, there were people in costume, and vendors peddling anything even remotely related to UFOs, not to mention some of the most far-fringed products you'd ever imagine. It was like one big party, which-thankfully-served to elevate the girls' moods and make them completely forget that they had been afraid. For the next several days, our activities alternated between serious lectures and the carnival atmosphere on the street. I must admit, it was a wonderful time, and we got so caught up in the revelry that we almost forgot how deeply ingrained our lives had been with the original event.
In December of 1997, Jess came home from work and said, "I've got a conference to attend in Brazil. Anyone want to go?" We were all excited, until we were told that it was not safe to take the little girls. Guess who got to stay home again. Jess left for Brasilia in the beginning of December, and being the detail man that he is, had not left me his travel details. I had no idea where he was staying or when he'd be home. He later told me that he had met a Russian cosmonaut who had spent six months on the Muir space station, and had seen-you guessed it-a UFO.
After few days passed without hearing from Jess, I began to get worried. I checked the news to see if there had been any reports of planes crashing in the area. There were no crashes, so I told myself not to worry (I didn't listen), and I waited. After several more days went by without a word, my paranoia kicked in again. I was beginning to think he might have been abducted-not by aliens, but by Earthlings with sinister motives. The days turned into weeks. I did my Christmas shopping and attended Christmas parties alone. Everyone was asking me when he'd be home or if I'd heard from him, but there was still no news. Then, suddenly, one afternoon just before Christmas, he called and said that he was in California and would be home on the 11:00 plane. He acted as if he'd just been gone overnight. I was, to say the least, upset, and asked him-not too calmly-why he had not called. He said that it cost a hundred dollars to place a call from Brazil, and that if I wasn't home when he called, it would still cost the same. He said that, knowing me and that I'm seldom home, he thought he'd save money and call from the United States. I probably don't need to tell you that when he finally got home, and the initial relief at having him back safe and sound wore off, we had an in-depth discussion about the advisability of keeping in touch and the usefulness of the modern answering machine.