A Cosmic Invitation
Gather round, dear reader, for a tale that stretches beyond the stars, to a place where human courage met the unknown. Picture the 1960s, a time of moon landings and Cold War whispers, when a secret U.S. program called Project Serpo sent twelve brave souls to a planet called Serpo, 39 light-years away in the Zeta Reticuli system.
It began with a crashed spacecraft and a survivor who spoke of a distant world, sparking a journey that would test the limits of human spirit. This is the story of an alien exchange, a saga of wonder and mystery.
The Roswell Connection
It all traces back to 1947, in the dusty plains near Roswell, New Mexico, where a UFO reportedly crashed. The military recovered debris, bodies, and one living being, named EBE-1, short for Extraterrestrial Biological Entity. This survivor, small and gray with large eyes, was taken to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Over years, EBE-1 learned English, sharing tales of Serpo, a planet orbiting two suns in Zeta Reticuli.
Using a salvaged communication device, EBE-1 tried to contact home but failed, passing away in 1952. Yet, contact was made, setting the stage for an extraordinary deal.
Planning the Impossible
By 1962, whispers of an exchange program took shape, codenamed Project Serpo, or possibly Project Crystal Knight. Twelve military personnel, ten men and two women, were chosen for their skills in science, medicine, and survival. They had to be single, without close family, ready to vanish for a decade. Training was grueling: language lessons to mimic Eben speech patterns, physical conditioning for an alien world’s gravity, and crash courses in interstellar diplomacy.
In 1964, two Eben ships landed at Holloman Air Force Base, but the exchange was delayed due to logistical concerns. Finally, in July 1965, the team boarded an Eben craft near Alamogordo, leaving one Eben behind on Earth as a gesture of trust.
The Journey Across Stars
The voyage to Serpo took ten months, a 40-light-year leap in a craft powered by technology that seemed to bend space itself. The team brought four tons of supplies, including food, medical kits, weapons, and even jeeps, but relied on Eben rations that tasted like cardboard. One member died en route from a pulmonary embolism, a somber start to their cosmic adventure. Upon landing, they were greeted by a crowd of Ebens, led by a female spokesperson fluent in English, known only as EBE-2.
Serpo’s two suns blazed at 107 degrees, the air thick with ammonia, forcing the team to wear protective gear. The planet, smaller than Earth, had 43-hour days and no true night, disorienting the humans.
Life Among the Ebens
Serpo’s 650,000 Ebens lived in small, metallic communities centered around a single city of gleaming towers. Standing three to four feet tall, with large heads and almond eyes, they were peaceful, with no government or money, guided by a leader and an army that avoided violence. Their food, industrially produced, was unpalatable to humans, who grew their own crops in the cooler northern regions after supplies dwindled.
The team explored freely, noting sparse vegetation, no oceans, and work animals resembling small dinosaurs. Eben technology, like anti-gravity vehicles and holographic displays, stunned them, yet their society felt oddly simple, disciplined by the suns’ relentless cycles.
Challenges and Tensions
Adapting to Serpo was brutal. High radiation claimed two team members, and the long days scrambled human biological clocks. A chilling incident occurred when the team encountered a snake-like creature with human-like features, possibly a chimera from Eben genetic experiments. When it attacked, the team killed it, intending to eat it, but the Ebens, horrified, forbade it, revealing the creature’s sentience.
Another clash arose when the team tried to photograph Eben children, who were rare due to low reproduction rates. The Ebens’ army intervened, enforcing strict cultural boundaries, hinting at a deeper divide between species.
Alleged Timeline of the Serpo Saga
Let’s trace the winding path of this cosmic journey, piecing together its strange milestones:
- July 2, 1947: A UFO crashes near Roswell, New Mexico, followed by another near Corona. The military recovers debris, bodies, and one survivor, EBE-1, taken to Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1948: EBE-1 begins learning English, using gestures and a translation device to communicate about Serpo, its home planet in Zeta Reticuli.
- 1949-1952: EBE-1 shares details of Serpo’s culture and technology, attempts contact with home using a salvaged device, but dies in 1952 from unknown causes. Contact with Ebens is established.
- 1959: Initial talks of an exchange program surface within a secret U.S. task force, codenamed Project Serpo, inspired by EBE-1’s revelations.
- 1962: Project Serpo planning intensifies, with twelve military personnel selected for their expertise and lack of close family ties, beginning rigorous training.
- April 24, 1964: Two Eben ships land at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, in a highly classified event, but the exchange is postponed due to unresolved technical issues.
- July 16, 1965: The team of twelve departs Earth from a remote site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, aboard an Eben craft, leaving one Eben, EBE-2, on Earth.
- May 1966: The team arrives on Serpo after a ten-month journey. One member dies en route from a pulmonary embolism; eleven begin their stay.
- 1967: The team struggles with Serpo’s heat and ammonia-heavy air, setting up a base camp in the northern region to escape the intense dual suns.
- 1968: Two more team members die from radiation exposure. The team relocates further north, growing Earth-like crops to sustain themselves.
- 1971: A cultural clash occurs when the team kills a sentient snake-like creature, straining relations with the Ebens, who enforce stricter boundaries.
- 1975: The team attempts to photograph Eben children, prompting intervention by the Eben army, highlighting tensions over cultural differences.
- August 1978: Eight members return to Earth after thirteen years, quarantined for a year at a secret Nevada facility, producing a 3,000-page debrief. Two choose to stay on Serpo.
- March 1981: A leaked briefing transcript to President Reagan and CIA Director William Casey mentions Serpo, with Reagan expressing fascination at the cosmic implications.
- 1985: Eben contact with Earth ceases abruptly, leaving the fate of the two remaining humans on Serpo unknown.
- November 2005: An anonymous source, possibly Air Force officer Richard Doty, leaks Serpo details to Victor Martinez’s UFO email group, igniting public interest.
- 2007: Additional leaks, including alleged journal entries from the team, surface online, describing Serpo’s environment and Eben customs in vivid detail.
- 2024: Interest in Serpo resurges with new discussions in UFO communities, but no physical evidence, like photos or artifacts, emerges, keeping the story a mystery.
The Return and Secrecy
In 1978, eight survivors returned to Earth, forever changed. Quarantined for a year at a secret Nevada facility, they were debriefed, producing a 3,000-page report detailing Serpo’s culture, technology, and challenges. The two who stayed behind, enamored with Eben life, vanished from record. All eight returnees reportedly died by 2002, their illnesses blamed on Serpo’s high radiation.
The report, locked away, surfaced only through leaks, notably in 2005 via an anonymous source, possibly Air Force officer Richard Doty, to a UFO email group run by Victor Martinez. Contact with the Ebens stopped in 1985, leaving only silence.
A Cosmic Enigma Endures
Project Serpo remains a puzzle, its details too vivid to dismiss, yet unproven by documents or photos. Was it a real exchange, sparked by Roswell’s wreckage, or a tale woven from human longing for cosmic connection?
The 3,000-page report, the Reagan briefing, and the consistency of leaks hint at truth, yet the shadow of Doty’s disinformation past clouds it. Is it a glimpse of interstellar bonds or a myth born of secrecy? Only you can decide.