THE ANOMALY

The story of a photo from space that left a path of destruction on Earth.

The Texas sky is full of stars.

An amateur astronomer sets up his telescope. Above him, a pale ribbon of light in the heavens. A comet, only recently discovered.

He photographs the comet with the help of his astronomy software.

It’s a photo he’ll soon wish he never took.

In the world of astronomy, amateur astronomers are no joke. Major discoveries have been made by amateur astronomers. So our friend the astrophotographer reviews his many photos of the comet, curious to see more closely a celestial event that has, throughout history, been a harbinger of doom.

And he finds an anomaly.

Next to the comet is an object.

Not a star, not a piece of the comet.

Not a lens flare or a particle of dust inside the scope.

Not an airplane or satellite.

Or a cloud or a lightning bolt or an insect or a bird.

A UFO. Something unidentified in space.

Flying alongside the comet.

Bigger than the Earth. Four times bigger.

With rings like Saturn.

And it’s heading toward us.

And it’s on dozens of photos taken by this guy’s telescope.

So the amateur astronomer shares the photo with a major media outlet. Which posts it to their website.

A curious professor at a prestigious university sees the photo and shares it with a professional astronomer at a major observatory.

The pro astronomer tells the professor that the photo is legit.

The comet indeed has a companion. An object.

A UFO.

It’s emitting radio signals.

And it’s moving under its own power, changing speed and direction with no outside influence.

The pro astronomer uses the phrase, “intelligently driven.” An alien craft. There’s no other way to describe it.

Let’s get this clear. A intelligently driven craft that’s four times the size of our planet, traveling alongside a comet, is flying towards us.

The pro astronomer talks to the professor at length over days, and in a bombshell, sends him original photos from the observatory that also show the object, proving the amateur’s photo.

Now the professor activates his own university-funded scientific lab to study the photos.

And what he finds is incredible.

The professor appears on a national radio show. Millions of people tuning in across the country, around the world. He explains the amateur photo has been verified by a pro, and goes into detail on his own research about the observatory’s photo he received.

It’s wild. Absolutely wild.

The professor’s lab has determined that this object is a massive planet-sized ship coming to Earth in the tail of the comet, that the astronomical community is holding back the truth so society doesn’t fall apart.

And the pro astronomer is planning a press conference to tell all.

For weeks, the professor returns to the radio show to detail his research, which speaks of the alien civilization and their advanced technology. Time and again, the professor and the radio host state for their listeners that this is not a hoax, the photos are real, and the research is absolutely legitimate. They tell the world to pay attention. To prepare. Everything is about to change forever.

But for mysterious reasons, the pro astronomer hasn’t come forward. No announcements or press conferences. The professor says it’s because he’s scared for his safety, for his family’s safety. Doesn’t want to become a target for the crazies.

Time marches on, and the comet draws closer to Earth.

From the start, a group of strangers across the country has been listening to it all. They believe every word. It’s information from professors, university labs, observatories and astronomers, and famous radio hosts. The message is clear. It’s true. All of it.

The photos, the research, so many legitimate data points and sources. There’s no doubt the aliens are coming. It’s time to prepare. The strangers organize around a leader, and begin to worship the object and its inhabitants. A full-on religion springs up, with dozens of followers and growing. A religion of spirit and technology. The intelligent universe is making itself known to us. We must be prepared.

After many weeks, the radio host grows impatient waiting for the press conference that never comes. He’s told his listeners time and again this is all real, not a hoax, and now it’s time to find out what’s actually happening.

Against the professor’s objections, out of fear for the safety of the unnamed pro astronomer, the host posts the observatory comet photo to the web.

In less than 24 hours, the comet photo is debunked.

A real astronomer at the real observatory that took the original photo reaches out to the radio host, and explains on air how the fake photo had been altered. This is a time when it was difficult to do such things, difficult enough that it would take quite a lot of resources to accomplish. Difficult, but not impossible.

So the host invites the professor, who has been claiming this photo is true, who has all this information from a pro astronomer to back him up, but none of it available to share with the public, the host invites this tenured professor to have a little chat.

Now this radio host, he’s none too happy. For weeks, perhaps months, he’s told his eager audience that actual aliens are imminently on their way to Earth. He’s told them, this is real. It isn’t a “War of the Worlds” radio drama. No, it is absolutely real. He’d even gone so far as to warn parents not to let their children listen, lest they become frightened at this incredible and terrifying news.

On air, the professor insists on his innocence. For 2 hours, the host grills the professor, who refuses to reveal the identity of the pro astronomer, claiming legal concerns, ethical concerns, a desire to look into the problem further. The professor is adamant that his own team’s research is absolutely accurate, but that he’s been targeted by a scheme to debunk his field, which he admits is a bit on the fringe. That some in the establishment consider pseudoscience. He’s in the crosshairs, his reputation is on the line, and if he doesn’t reveal his source, he will be painted as a fraud to the entire nation. And still he never reveals the name of the pro astronomer who sent him the faked photo.

As for the amateur astronomer, he’s simply astounded. He has nothing to do with the fake photo. His own photos are real. He has hundreds of them using a standard telescope and software. And every one shows the comet, and its companion. Just as he said from the start.

Eventually, the excitement dies down. The drama fades

Everything goes back to normal.

But the comet draws ever closer to Earth. With or without a companion ship, is up for debate.

And then the comet arrives. It has traveled countless miles over countless millennia, and now it is finally at its closest point to our planet. 120 million miles, just a little bit further than our Sun. In human terms, a vast distance, impossible to imagine. In astronomical terms, a razor’s edge.

And on that day, the followers of the spiritual alien religion are all found dead in their compound from suicide.

The media firestorm that follows focuses not on the professor and his wild claims, or the unnamed pro astronomer who is never outed.

No, the news headlines are all aimed at the radio host. And worse, the amateur astronomer, who is accused of murder by the press and the public.

But what about those photos he took that showed the companion to the comet?

Astronomers examine them and determine that the telescope and software hadn’t been properly calibrated. That’s all. Nothing more.

The light that appears to be a celestial companion, and was interpreted to be a massive alien ship four times bigger than our planet, that sparked a hoax and a frenzy and a suicide cult, was nothing more than a background star distorted by the lens and ignored by the software.

It was a simple, honest mistake.

But nobody cares about that. The amateur astrophotographer is forced into hiding, gets sick and dies 3 years later.

This all happened.

The cult was Heaven’s Gate. 39 people passed away in a death pact.

The comet was Hale-Bopp. It passed the Earth in 1997.

The amateur astronomer was Chuck Shramer. He passed in 2000.

The host was Art Bell. He passed in 2018.

And the guy who made all those claims about aliens arriving on a ship traveling alongside the comet?

His name is Courtney Brown. He’s still alive. He remains a professor and author with a specialty in aliens and UFOS. His university lab studies and promotes an arcane pseudoscience called remote viewing. He’s used it to talk to aliens. Among other things.

And it all makes you think, doesn’t it? It makes you wonder. About aliens, and comets, and hoaxes, and the truth. And most urgently, it makes you wonder about people. And what makes them tick. We’re all made from stars, but we are not all the same.

Because sometimes, the anomaly is not in the photo or in the data, it’s not traveling alongside a comet, and it’s not a technical glitch or computer malfunction.

Sometimes, the anomaly is in the human mind.