THE SWORD AND SICKLE

PART TWO DECEPTION:

CHAPTER-SIX

CASSINI-2

©2017, Olan L. Smith

Gibbon added, "Let them build their spaceships; it will be years before they even come close to developing a ship capable of traveling that far, and as soon as it is feasible, the price of gold will plunge and they will lose their investment. Hell, we can use this aspect to take the focus off of the other loopholes in our story. Gold fever will run rampant, and we will be off the hook for a few years. Sometimes a mystery is good for the public."

Julie said, "We know this object is an alien ship. We know it appeared mysteriously. What if it moves? If it gets any closer to earth, it will be easy to discern what it is by any backyard astronomer."

"We will deal with that when it happens, and God will help us if it does. Now we have to put together a cohesive story."

The Director of NASA, Dr. Alton Calverton, began the conference by stating that this object around Jupiter is one of the most inexplicable objects in space ever discovered. Further, he said, "The Cassini-2 team has been working around the clock to help answer any questions you might have. I will turn the conference over to Dr. Bob Gibbon. Bob...?"

Gibbon pulled his chair up to the microphone. He had been through so many of these press meetings that he had lost count. Today would be the first time he had ever lied to the public. He knew his skills at deception were poor. He took a deep breath and said, "Members of the press and the viewing audience. The object we are about to reveal to you first came into view on April 12th. The President immediately sent us instructions to reposition the Cassini spacecraft so that we would have a close encounter with the object, named F0101. F.O. stands for foreign object, and that is exactly what it is. It is not a comet, it is not a moon—as we think of one—and its identity is classified as that of a captured asteroid until we know better. What we do know about it is that it is not a spacecraft of any kind, despite rumors to the contrary. Its composition appears to be mainly silica and various other minerals, including large amounts of gold. Its shape is ovate, and it appears to have little or no rotation as it orbits the planet Jupiter. I will turn the session over to the doctors, Aspen and Harden, as they present the images taken by Cassini-2. When we open up this conference to questions, please give your name, identify yourself, and who you are affiliated with."

Julie and Tony looked at each other and silently determined who would go first. Tony said, "Julie will begin the presentation. Julie?"

"Thank you, Dr. Aspen. The first image I am going to show is image FO-01, dash I-010. In this image, you will see how Cassini-2 views it at a distance of approximately three hundred miles. From this vantage point, you can see it has a magnitude of minus, two points five, much brighter than Jupiter itself. You will also notice that the object appears to have an ovate contour, which is very unusual for debris or an asteroid at this diameter. In the next image, at the same distance, you will see it using a different filter. It's easy to see the ovate profile of the object. Now I will turn over the discussion to Dr. Aspen."

"We will release two more images from a distance of about one hundred and seventy miles. In these high-magnitude images, you can see the scarring and meteor impacts on the surface of the object. We estimate the length of the object to be at least twenty kilometers. Notice the impact crater in the top-right quadrant. If you look closely, you will see a yellowish glow. This we believe to be gold, and in the next image, you can definitely see the metallic sheen in many different locations. The angular fractures appear to be stress fractures that were caused when they sheared off a larger object. At this time, we do not completely understand the object's origin. What we do know is that this object is not an alien ship of any kind. Now, I will open it up for questions."

"This is Tom Hodges of NBB. Let me get this straight. From what I understand, we have basically a UFO, made partially of gold, orbiting around the planet Jupiter, and according to your theory, it broke away from a larger object. Where do you speculate that, for lack of a better phrase, the bigger mother lode is at this moment?"

The director asked, "Which member of the team are you directing your question?"

"Oh, I don't know? Dr. Aspen."

Tony replied, "First, I'm a scientist, and I do not speculate. The speculation I leave up to you people. If you mean by mother lode', the larger object that FO-01 broke away from, That is unknown at this time; without future calculations, it is impossible to know at this moment. As far as it is an unidentified flying object, sir, we know what it is, and we know what mineral it is made of, and that does not classify it as a UFO, so there is no reporting back to the public that we have a UFO. This object is real; it's substantial and identified; it's a foreign body captured by Jupiter's gravitational field." Next question.

"I am Roy Angelo of Scientifica Magazine, Dr. Harden. Astronomers have reported that the object seems to have little or no rotation, and they have detected no wobble. That, to me, seems highly unusual for an object to be in a gravitation lock with the planet Jupiter so quickly, and it suggests the object has some type of internal natural forming gyroscope. What is your reasoning on this matter?"

"Roy, we are working on a theory about this as we speak, and I cannot address that at this moment. You are right. This is unusual and unexpected. We do know its mass is extremely dense, and because of that, it has a gravitational field about the size of our moon. At this moment, we are measuring the gravitation effect it has on Jupiter, and perhaps we will be able to tell you more in a few months. Other than that, I cannot comment."

"I am Harriet Hesston of the Edmontonian Reporter." If this has a gravitation field as large as our moon, then it would be possible to send a craft to its surface, land, and take samples. Perhaps we could mine the things for their ore. Dr. Gibbon, what are your thoughts on this subject?"

"NASA is not a mining program. We already have a craft in orbit around Jupiter that will answer all our questions. Now, as far as private companies having an investment in mining the object, you will have to ask someone who is in that line of business. Is it feasible? Perhaps other countries with space programs might have an interest in the object for mining purposes. Maybe the director can be more specific."