It is the year 2022, the world had just overcome a couple of years of the worst pandemics ever seen in human history and a war between Russia and Ukraine has the world at the edge of World War III.
A signal crossing the entire galaxy arrives at Earth. Satellites, telescopes, and other artifacts around the world have been secretly listening to the vast cosmos, in order to detect a specific signal.
A satellite picked up this signal and a hidden code executes…
A group of high-rank military officers and the Chief of Staff are about to get into the Oval Office with the president of the United States.
General Michael Turner is among them. The other officers noticed something peculiar in his right pocket. A small device vibrates. He takes it out of his pocket and looks at the device for a few seconds. His father General Elliot Theodore Turner gave it to him right after the ceremony where President George Bush gave Mike’s first medal, the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is a rather old wireless telecommunications device, a “beeper”.
Everybody in the room looks at him while he holds this device. His facial expression doesn’t say much. The message reads “SIGNAL DETECTED… SHIELD 51 ACTIVATED…”.
It took him a couple of seconds to react. Suddenly he is heading towards the door of the Oval Office while he says out loud to the Chief of Staff.
Michael Turner: “Tom something just came up, Priority 1 Security Level Omega, I need to talk to the President alone…”
Michael Turner: “Excuse me Mr. President we need to talk…” Those are the words the Generals can hear just before the door closes.
Michael Turner: “Mr. President Shield 51 has been activated“. Michael shows the device to the president.
President: “Shield 51?”. It is clear the President has no idea what Michael is talking about.
Michael Turner: “Yes”.
In the meantime, another device starts vibrating in General’s Vladimir Petrov pocket (Russian Army 4 stars General), Sir Elliot Millers (MI6), Professor Song Shu (AI and Machine Learning Caltech’s professor), Luke Mons (world most renowned businessman and rocketeer), Major Lyn Katsuki (Japan’s Secret Service) and another 27 people around the world. All this while Michael Turner explains the situation to the President.
Michael Turner: “While we speak, 33 individuals around the globe are receiving the same message”
Michael starts speaking while he walks towards an incredible old foot Clock on the wall.
Michael Turner: “Only a few know about Shield 51. Including top-ranking officers of the Russian, French, English, and Japanese governments. And their Presidents are probably being debriefed at this moment.”
The President started to get uncomfortable with the situation. Thinking, about what could be so important, that only a few people in the world know about it, and that Presidents of the most powerful nations in the world are being debriefed about it. And what is Michael doing with that old clock!?
He starts moving the clock aside, cuts the wallpaper with his Swiss army knife (an important gift from his Grandfather that he always carries with him), and removes a wall panel, letting the president see a hidden safe box behind it.
The President looks shocked. It is clear he also didn’t know about this hidden safe.
President: “You know I will discount that from your paycheck, right?”. The President says in an attempt to lower the tension this situation is provoking.
Michael Turner: “Mr. President, inside this safe box, lies the confidential documents necessary to explain this situation. It will only open if this biometric reader scans both of us.”
Michael places his thumb on the biometric reader until he hears a beep sound and the President does the same with his thumb. Beep! Beep! Beep! The safe door opens.
Michael takes a big black notepad, a small red notepad a blue notebook, three folders, an old VHS tape, and a strange device, from inside the safe. He hands over the notepads to the President, places the device on top of the desk, and opens the blue notepad.
Michael Turner: “Let’s take a seat, Mr. President.”
Michael starts heading toward a media center that is situated right below the President’s TV.
Michael Turner: “Did you ever wonder why we kept a VHS device here?”
Michael looks at the President's face. The President looks frozen, looking at a set of pictures on the notepads. He tries to keep going through the papers when he looks up at Michael Turner’s face and says.
President: “I just can’t believe it.”
Michael Turner: "Plays the VHS videotape.”
VHS video voice-over: “In 1946, President Truman created what was later known as Area 51. The base of operations was an Air Force military installation at Groom Lake Nevada…”
The video presentation shows different pictures of “those years”, conspiracy pictures, photos of aliens, weapons, special forces, nuclear explosions, the blue book project, moon landing, earthquakes…
The world will never be the same after this. It seems humanity might be forced to finally confront the terrifying reality that we are not alone in the universe, and that the unknown depths of space hold dangers beyond our wildest nightmares.
President: “So the base of Operations would be at our Air Force base at Groom Lake Nevada?”
Michael Turner: “No Mr. President. That was where it was originally created. After killing the last grey, Area 51 became obsolete. No more missions were deployed after 1977. It also represented a serious exposure risk to keep it open, too much attraction from the Roswell incident as you can imagine.”
President: "So it was all real! And Truman knew about all this! No other president knew about it?.” The President says between feelings of anger and surprise.
Michael Turner: “It was decided by Truman and the original members of Shield 51 that it was the only way for you and other presidents to have room for plausible deniability. But the information was always available for you”. Michael says while he looks at the hidden safe. “Only two presidents were involved with Shield 51activities but none to this extent.”
Michael Turner: “Now this is the device you will use to communicate with us. This is the only way to communicate off the grid nowadays.”
The President looks at the device rather surprised. It is like Michael’s device but bigger with something like 3 camera lenses.
Michael Turner: “Don’s worry. I will explain how this works.”
President: “I have one last question. I always wondered, why 51?”
Michael Turner: “Hehe…” he laughs. “Well, it turns out that the Grays’ bodies everybody talks about in those science fiction movies and series, well they are rich in Antimony, the 51st element of our periodic table. Antimony is for them, what carbon is for us humans.”
