[STO] Not Alone

(Leading story, The Observer, UK)

Humanity took its first step into a wider universe today with the first meeting between United Nations officials and representatives of an extraterrestrial race. The meeting took place behind closed doors at the United Nations headquarters in New York, though the arrival of our planet's guests was anything but private.

The first signs of their arrival came shortly before dawn in the UK, when telescopes started tracking a new object in the night sky, a vessel clearly of non-human construction big enough to be seen by the naked eye. It is unclear if any attempts at communication were made, or indeed responded to, but by mid-morning in the United States a craft from the spaceship was seen to enter our atmosphere and perform a dramatic approach and arrival at the United Nations.

Though no official statement has been released, photographs have been widely circulated showing both the streamlined shuttlecraft and its occupants, who appear to be of two distinct species. The first, much taller and heavier-built than humans and protected by a suit variously described as a spacesuit or set of armour, flanked the second species, a single individual of whom was seen. This alien, apparently at home in our climate and atmosphere, appeared to be the group's leader and is believed to have addressed members of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs as well as the Security Council, convened in a closed emergency session.

Much speculation has already been published across all media outlets as to the aliens' motives, however that they appear to have come to talk rather than wage violent conflict and that they have chosen to speak to our international leaders directly is taken by many as a sign of an intelligent, reasonable and accepting culture willing to treat our race as an equal.

However, the voice of reason is tempered by a number of demonstrations that have erupted across the world. Flash mobs organised through the internet have gathered outside seats of power in seventeen countries to protest against the percieved acquiescence towards the visiting beings, and online demagogues in the US, Asia and the Middle East have released statements and podcasts demanding a 'strike first' policy before an invasion materialises.

The world holds its collective breath, waiting for a voice to be raised and a figure to guide them; it seems now to be a question of whether our leaders have been offered an olive branch or an ultimatum- and whether the people they represent will accept their responses as their own.


(Obituaries section, Chicago Sun-Times, USA)

Major Alan Conroe, United States Air Force

A native of Chicago, Alan Conroe was a proud father of David and an avid aviator. Learning to fly before he could drive, he enlisted in the United States Air Force as soon as he was able and graduated at the head of his class. Serving with distinction during Operation Desert Storm and over the former Yugoslavia, Major Conroe's career and life were sadly brought to an end during a routine training flight over the Atlantic when the experimantal aircraft he was testing broke up mid-flight. He will me sorely missed by his family, friends and fellow pilots in the 101st Reconnaissance Squadron.