MidReal Story
Chapter One Sarah Thompson had never been a fan of conspiracy theories. She got why people were drawn to them. She wasn’t an idiot. There were plenty of times when she’d questioned the official narrative. But that was the difference between her and a true believer. She’d questioned them, but she always had enough sense to realize there was usually a good reason for the things the government did. She’d read enough history books to know that. She didn’t have time for people who thought the moon landing was faked or that the government was covering up proof of alien life. But maybe, just maybe, she would have to make an exception. A month ago, she’d received an anonymous email, inviting her to listen to a new podcast called “The Seeker.” The host was promising to uncover all the government’s UFO secrets. Intrigued, she’d listened to the first episode. It was entertaining, but nothing more than she expected. Which was exactly what she told herself. But then another email came through, this time from someone named John Smith. Sarah had no idea who John Smith was, but he seemed to know her. That email had a link to another podcast episode. And this time, Sarah’s skepticism had taken a backseat to curiosity. And now here she was, driving through the desert with a former government agent in search of Area 51. Because that’s where these podcasts were leading her. President Obama’s new podcast started around the same time Sarah received that first email, and people were already speculating about what he would talk about. Now it seemed those early rumors had been right. Alex Ramirez’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and scowled. “Do you need to get that?” Sarah asked. “It’s nothing,” he said, setting his phone back in his lap. “Just a wrong number.” “You don’t get wrong numbers.” She paused for a beat. “Do you?” “I used to be a field agent for the government. My number isn’t hard to find.” Right. She hadn’t forgotten that part of his story. Which was part of the reason she’d contacted him in the first place. He’d been a field agent for the FBI before he’d been recruited by a secret division of the government that Sarah hadn’t even known existed until she started researching Alex for her article. A division that had nothing to do with aliens. At least, not according to Alex. She still wasn’t sure if she believed him or not, but it had definitely given her pause. Alex sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this.” “I have that effect on people.” She glanced out the window at the stark desert landscape. “So what do we do if we find it?” “If we find Area 51, we’ll be shot on sight.” “I meant what do we do with what we find there? If these podcasts are right about what’s going on there-” “These podcasts aren’t right about anything,” Alex said sharply. She blinked at him in surprise, then gave him a look. “You may not believe there are aliens there, but you’ve gotta believe something is going on.” “There’s plenty going on out here in the desert,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been out here plenty of times on classified missions, and I’ve seen some strange things. But none of them were extraterrestrial.” “Then what were they?” He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter what I think.”
Scenario: Barack Obama starts a podcast about UFO conspiracy theories.
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Chapter One
Sarah Thompson had never been a fan of conspiracy theories.
She got why people were drawn to them. She wasn’t an idiot. There were plenty of times when she’d questioned the official narrative. But that was the difference between her and a true believer. She’d questioned them, but she always had enough sense to realize there was usually a good reason for the things the government did. She’d read enough history books to know that.
She didn’t have time for people who thought the moon landing was faked or that the government was covering up proof of alien life.
But maybe, just maybe, she would have to make an exception.
A month ago, she’d received an anonymous email, inviting her to listen to a new podcast called “The Seeker.” The host was promising to uncover all the government’s UFO secrets. Intrigued, she’d listened to the first episode. It was entertaining, but nothing more than she expected.
Which was exactly what she told herself.
But then another email came through, this time from someone named John Smith. Sarah had no idea who John Smith was, but he seemed to know her. That email had a link to another podcast episode. And this time, Sarah’s skepticism had taken a backseat to curiosity.
And now here she was, driving through the desert with a former government agent in search of Area 51.
Because that’s where these podcasts were leading her. President Obama’s new podcast started around the same time Sarah received that first email, and people were already speculating about what he would talk about. Now it seemed those early rumors had been right.
Alex Ramirez’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and scowled.
“Do you need to get that?” Sarah asked.
“It’s nothing,” he said, setting his phone back in his lap. “Just a wrong number.”
“You don’t get wrong numbers.” She paused for a beat. “Do you?”
“I used to be a field agent for the government. My number isn’t hard to find.”
Right. She hadn’t forgotten that part of his story. Which was part of the reason she’d contacted him in the first place.
He’d been a field agent for the FBI before he’d been recruited by a secret division of the government that Sarah hadn’t even known existed until she started researching Alex for her article. A division that had nothing to do with aliens.
At least, not according to Alex.
She still wasn’t sure if she believed him or not, but it had definitely given her pause.
Alex sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this.”
“I have that effect on people.” She glanced out the window at the stark desert landscape. “So what do we do if we find it?”
“If we find Area 51, we’ll be shot on sight.”
“I meant what do we do with what we find there? If these podcasts are right about what’s going on there-”
“These podcasts aren’t right about anything,” Alex said sharply.
She blinked at him in surprise, then gave him a look. “You may not believe there are aliens there, but you’ve gotta believe something is going on.”
“There’s plenty going on out here in the desert,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been out here plenty of times on classified missions, and I’ve seen some strange things. But none of them were extraterrestrial.”
“Then what were they?”
He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter what I think.”
hello
I have always said that if I had to be abducted by aliens, I’d be glad that they would have to go through my student loans. I’d love to see the look on their faces.
—Barack Obama
Former President of the United States
The Seeker, Episode 5
“If anyone can get to the bottom of this, it’s Sarah Thompson. She’s a great journalist and has a nose for uncovering the truth. I’m not sure if I believe in UFOs myself, but if they’re out there, Sarah will find them.”
—President Barack Obama
Former President of the United States
“Welcome back to The Seeker. I’m your host, John Smith, and today we have a special guest—a man who used to work for the US government as an agent. For those of you who are new to the program, our mission is simple: to uncover the secrets the government doesn’t want you to know about UFOs.”
Alex pulled off the two-lane highway, bringing his truck to a stop. As soon as he’d left the airport and had cell signal again, he’d downloaded all the episodes of The Seeker. He hadn’t listened to any of them until now, though.
When he’d gotten Sarah’s email about the latest episode, he’d known he needed to listen to it right away.
And what he heard was… not good.
They’d talked about a secret facility housing thousands of extraterrestrials, and not only that, but they also had evidence of the existence of these aliens. Photographs, videos… all sorts of things.
The voice on the podcast had been disguised, and Alex didn’t know who these people were or how they knew what they did. But he was pretty sure they were telling the truth.
Because he knew where the facility was. And he knew what was inside it. Which meant that if what they said was true—if they really had evidence—then they were telling the world that they were in possession of some of humanity’s most closely guarded secrets.
And if they were telling the world that… then Alex knew that people would be coming to take that evidence away from them. To stop them from revealing what they knew.
People like Alex.
He could feel Sarah staring at him as he reached for his phone. He didn’t have to say anything; she already knew what was going on.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“There’s a government facility not far from here,” Alex said. “I’ve never been there myself, but I know where it is. And they’re about to be discovered by some very dangerous people.”
“Who?” she asked.
“Us,” he said. “I used to work for the NSA.”
“Is that supposed to impress me?”
