Empire unusual suggested

CII/U'TKR 1'OIIK
TO MAGONIA . . . AND BACK!
The mind of a person coming out of Fairy-
Land is usually blank as to what has been
seen and done there.
Walter Wentz, The Fairy-Faith in
Celtic Countries
THE MIND of Private First Class Gerry Irwin was blank when he
woke up on March 2, 1959, in Cedar City Hospital. He had been
unconscious for twenty-three hours, at times mumbling incoherently
something about a "jacket on the bush." When he
became conscious his first question was: "Were there any
survivors?"
The story of Private Irwin is a mysterious one, and very little
has been done to clarify it. It has been mentioned only once in
UFO literature, by James Lorenzen, director of the APRO group, 1
and has not, to the best of my knowledge, been the subject of
subsequent investigation. Such an investigation, however, would
throw light on some aspects of the UFO problem now gaining
considerable publicity and causing some concern to those who
follow the development of the sociological context of UFO reports.
Perhaps, as Lorenzen suggests, there was a military investigation
that has been kept secret. If so, secrecy on the part of the
authorities, if they arc really concerned with the nation's peace
of mind, is not the best course, as the following review of the few
well-established facts of the Irwin case, which serves as an introduction
to a discussion of the problem of "contact," makes clear.
Late on February 28, 1959, Gerry Irwin, a Nike missile technician,
was driving from Nampa, Idaho, back to his barracks at
Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. He was returning from military leave.
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