It was just before the Glorious Fourth; and we were out with the kids buying an armload of assorted fireworks. I got two of everything the man had; and kissed a tenspot goodby. Well, he didn't have very much, at that.
When we got home, we unsacked our purchases and looked them over. Jimmie wanted to start right in on the firecrackers. I held him off, and we sorted through the other stuff. He pulled up a long box, and carefully read the label.
"Buzz Bomb. Set on ground, light fuse, and step back. Daddy, let's try this out."
I took it from him and read the label myself.
"It says step back, daddy. You better be careful!"
"Well, I will," I replied. "Shall we try it out now?"
"Oh, yes, but remember to step back, daddy. 'Way back. You might get hurt. It says it's a Buzz Bomb." He even pronounced the capitals, with respect.
We went out into the yard. I opened the package, and took out a gadget built like a stick with a propeller on the end of it. Sure enough, there was a fuse on it. I set it on the ground, and got out a match.
"Step back, daddy!" warned Jimmie. That boy's going to grow up to be a safety engineer -- or a Portland bus driver.
I lit the match, touched off the fuse, and stepped back. It was a good idea, all right. The fuse sputtered, and caught. The stick began to whirl. It buzzed and spun on an ever-increasing radius. I stepped farther back. Jimmie was bug-eyed.
Pretty quick the stick took off. It whirled so fast it became a blur as it rose. At about 300 feet altitude it leveled off and headed northwest. Then we couldn't see it any more. I lit a punkstick for Jimmie, gave him a package of firecrackers, and went inside hurriedly to avoid the noise.
Next evening, the paper carried another report on the flying discs. Forty-seven reliable witnesses reported one over Longview, about fifty miles northwest from Portland.
But Jimmie and I know better.
- END -
Text versions and page scans Judy Bemis
Data entry by Judy Bemis
Updated June 19, 2015. If you have a comment about these web pages please send a note to the Fanac Webmaster. Thank you.