For generations, civilization has been consumed with the possibility of life outside of this planet. But what would happen if it were true? Would it cause complete and utter chaos, or possibly lead to a reevaluation of all that we hold dear? This week’s short story leads directly into our topic: what if you could prove that alien life existed?
Welcome to Smirk. A podcast that covers society and culture through a storytelling lens. Part creative writing, part discussion, and always interesting. Each week our hosts brings a story to the show, a story they wrote themselves, which is immediately followed by discussion on the author’s moral or theme. These stories can cover any topic the host wants to discuss, it can be lighthearted or more serious. No one but the author knows if these tales are truth or fiction, and part of the fun is guessing while you’re listening before the reality is made clear. We want to hear from you! If you want to share YOUR story, join the conversation by writing in to mystory@smirkpodcast.com, and include your moral, or you can let us guess at it. This is the podcast that looks at truth, fiction, and reality. With a Smirk. Don’t forget to subscribe to Smirk and share the show with your friends!
Want to read Aaron’s story “The Truth Is Out There” in full? Think you can identify the moral or theme for this episode? Read it below, and then take a listen to the podcast.
The Truth Is Out There
Chris readied his F-18.
Mission Control just gave the order, and he was ready to go. An unidentified flying object, yes a UFO, was spotted off the coast of California, and he can’t wait to discredit yet another idiotic report.
Ever since he was a kid, Chris had dreamed of becoming a military pilot, of taking down MIGs like Maverick and Goose. Of taking the fight to the skies. Unfortunately, all it’s become is a non-stop search for meaningless objects in the sky.
“Maybe this one’s a drone, or a souped-up seagull. Who knows, and honestly, who cares”, he thought.
Chris took off and began the search. As Mission Control guided him, Chris caught a glimpse of what was identified. Looked like a plane to him, but he closed in regardless. The quicker he identifies this, the quicker he returns to deck.
Chris’s wingman pulled up alongside him, the military rarely lets you investigate solo. The object is now directly in their line of sight. It’s white, oblong, roughly 40’ long, and 12’ thick. They close in and notice something odd: the craft has no wings nor exhaust.
Chris and his wingman are 100 feet away when the craft rolls right, then rolls left, then disappears before their eyes. They look around, nothing. Chris felt disjointed, “where the hell did it go?” he thought.
Suddenly, he found out. The craft had, SOMEHOW, taken up position directly behind them!
Chris and his wingman managed to turn around, and came back face-to-face with the craft. It then seemingly dropped out of the sky, plummeting to the earth at supersonic speeds. Chris chased after the craft, he wanted to see what happened when this craft crashed.
But it didn’t. 50 feet above the ocean’s surface, the craft came to a complete stop, hovering. Waiting. As soon as Chris reached its level, he caught one more glimpse of the craft before he flew out of sight. Its speed was too fast to chase after anymore, and all Chris could do was stare blank-eyed at what he had just witnessed.
Hundreds of missions and flights, and nothing had ever prepared him for this. No one would ever believe him, but Chris now knew the truth.
We are not alone in this universe.