(A Historical Imagining)
On the afternoon of February 19, 1973 Richard Nixon woke up from a nap and his mind was made up. It was time he shared a secret. As a master of secrets, it was uncommon for him to share one but this was a special case. He’d spent the day with Jackie Gleason playing golf. It was a lovely Florida afternoon. The bugs hadn’t bothered them. The breezes had been weak. There were no storms on the horizon. Other than the death of Max Yasgur, the owner of the farm where Woodstock had taken place, not much had happened that day.
Nixon had dreamt of the little men again and the memory was nagging at him. He knew his friend Jackie was a fan of the occult and all things extraterrestrial. The former television star had once told him of building a house shaped like a flying saucer. Why not give his friend one of the greatest gifts he could imagine?
It wasn’t the first time Nixon ditched his Secret Service escorts. He’d done it before. Who would believe President Nixon was driving alone across the flatlands of Florida? He used his private car. Jackie was taking a nap. When he woke up, Nixon was standing in his doorway. The President said he wanted to show him something.
It didn’t take Jackie long to get dressed. Nixon declined a cocktail. He told Jackie he’d want to be sober. Jackie took the advice of his friend and left the house sober as a Sunday school teacher. Nixon was a slow driver. When they finally arrived at Homestead Air Force base the young airman standing guard at the gate was stunned to see the President driving his own car. He waved them through.
Nixon stopped the car at the far side of the base at a building guarded by armed soldiers. The two men entered and walked past a series of laboratories until finally they reached a room deep inside the building. Nixon told Jackie what he was about to show him was the greatest gift he could give his loyal and true friend. Nixon led Jackie over to a few containers with glass tops. He smiled his awkward grin and suggested Jackie take a look at what was inside.
Only a thick piece of glass separated the former television star from what he’d always wanted to see- an alien from another world. Nixon watched his old friend. When Jackie looked at Nixon, the President nodded. Jackie gazed again. Underneath the glass he saw a little green man with wide dark eyes. The creature was roughly two feet tall and hairless. The body seemed to have been pulled from the wreckage of a violent crash. Jackie told Nixon the alien looked like a mangled child.
Nixon drove Jackie back to his house. The ride was quiet. No questions were asked. When they arrived, Jackie asked the President if he wanted a cocktail but Nixon declined. He needed to get back before the Secret Service discovered he was missing. Nixon reminded his old friend the little men were a national secret. Jackie promised he’d never speak of it.
That night and for the next three weeks, Jackie Gleason drank like a man trying to forget. He’d finally seen an alien and it wiped out everything he’d once known and believed to be true. The master of secrets had given his friend the greatest gift he could think of- but he never told him how to live with the truth.
