September 23, 1870
Journal property of Dr. Charles Henry Morgan
The purpose of this journal is to accurately article and acknowledge the findings of the air ship that was recovered by the United States Federal Government on the night of September 20th of the year Eighteen-Seventy. This journal and its contents are subject to search and inquiry when called upon. The contents of this journal are not permanent and liable to change if further information arises.
This journal has been approved by:
President Ulysses S. Grant
Vice President Schuyler Colfax
Author's note:
Since the dawn of time, man has continuously looked to the heavens, and to the stars for guidance and purpose. As a young and fervent species, we have always desired the answer to life, and our fundamental purpose in the illustrious design of creation. The ambiguities of the world are feeble and minute when contrasted with the profound mysteries of the abyss. It is believed that our ancestors encountered entities from another world that brought forth knowledge, science, and practical applications to enrich our existence. We produced colossal temples, vast monuments, and golden idols as a tribute to their divine intervention. Though we believe our forebears were erroneous in their beliefs, they were, in fact, closer to ascertaining the answers to our most pressing inquiries than we ever imagined. Now, in our modern epoch, the question of our solitude among the stars has been answered. A definitive life form is waiting to be discovered just as we were discovered by it. Explorers have dared to voyage to the ends of the world, to ascend the slopes of the mighty Matterhorn, to brave the icy depths of the ocean, and now a new venture lays upon the horizon. It is our time to journey into the great black void. We are ready. We are eager.
- Charles H. Morgan
Who am I? This is a question that will no doubt determine how you evaluate me as a human and as a man. I am Charles H. Morgan, born on the 17th of April, in the year Eighteen-Seventeen. As a boy, electrical applications captured my curiosity. I learned through the minds of Thales, Franklin, and Galvani, but da Vinci and Fontana would indulge my fantasies with their extraordinary apparatuses. Accompanying me through my life was my younger brother Jules, who greatly admired my aptitude, unknowing that I, in return, admired his impudence. Where I was conservative and diagnostic, he was bold and adventurous. I suppose we complimented each other in that regard. I loved and cared for him; he was the only individual who truly understood the method by which I lived.
I graduated from Yale University by the age of 13, earning a Doctorate in mechanics and physics. I did so not for the sake of my parents or my lineage, but because I believed in science as a means to supplement humanity, a concept that my informal mentor, Nathaniel Morgan, believed in. My work in the field of medicine was very unusual: I conceived a process of replacing amputated limbs with automata appendages and restoring cellular activity to the brain through electrification. When war broke out between the states, I postponed my inquest and joined arms alongside Jules. However, in the year Eighteen Sixty-Four, at Yellow Tavern, he sustained a wound to the abdomen. I was devastated. At his persistent request, I implemented my research and theories to keep him alive. Ultimately, it ended disastrously. He died, and I was left discouraged and repentant. I took a vow to abandon the only true passion I ever had. The science and innovation I held so tenderly would grow disfigured and corrupt if left in my hands, and so I walked away from it. That is, until a few days before this entry, when the heavens released a gleaming opportunity.
And so, I must reiterate the question of who I am. I am a scientist: an inquisitive man who believes in knowledge and yearns for a better world. I believe in humanity. I believe in the preservation of life, and most significantly, I believe in the collective language of science. I have been given a new chance, and so I must enact upon it accordingly.
SUMMATION
Location: Mount Washington, NH
On the morning of September 20, 1870, at 4:45 am, William Brinkley, a local cultivator, reported a luminous streak over his home. Brinkley claims, "I looked up into the sky and saw a ball of white fire that blazed like the head of a torch, and with thunderbolts spitting out from all directions. It soared over my home, plowing through the tops of the trees, and landing somewhere in the woods!"
He set out in search of what fell from the sky that night, and he stumbled into a large crater from which he recovered an enormous diamond that emitted a purple glow. According to Brinkley's testament, "when I touched it, the strength in my arms returned, and I had felt like a young man again." He believed "that rock is an omen. God has passed his final judgment on us. Wormwood has fallen, and the End of Days is near." Mr. Brinkley explicitly remarked exuberance in the sudden floral growth surrounding the crater. The trees, however, were bent at their trunks at a near-perfect 90 degrees.
On September 21, 1870, at 6:38 pm, Coos County sheriff Reginald Clay, at the request of William Brinkley, led a party of volunteers to search for any further remnants of the impact. The initial crater was inspected further, however, the sudden floral growth was no longer present. They had removed the diamond from the crater. Deputy Henry Powell noted, "When you walk down into that hollow, you're standing on solid, smooth glass. There are no cracks; not one imperfection." The crater measured 8 feet deep with a circumference of about 37 feet. The glass was about 2 or 3 inches thick.
A second crater was found further up the trail. It measured 24 feet deep, 53 feet in circumference, and 2,411 feet from the initial crater. Sticking out from this crater was an immense silo of some kind with curious picto-grams and strange characters carved into its hull. The interior of the silo's hull was too unstable to explore. The structure appeared to be assembled out of steel or possibly rubber. Most peculiar was the lack of any substantial damage or burn residue on the silo's exterior. The volunteer party recovered numerous mechanical oddities that were ejected on impact. Curious still, the hieroglyphs along the structure's hull looked familiar. They resembled cuneiform.
I will not entertain such wild thoughts, however, if the cuneiform is genuine, then what does it imply? Would it suggest that the silo—this enormous craft—was constructed between 3000 BC and 4000 BC? Steel and rubber were not yet discovered. Ancient peoples did not possess the knowledge of thermal engines, let along the technological mastery of propelling such a craft into space. The fact of the matter remains: either this was an elaborate hoax, or the craft is real, and defies all scientific and historical understanding. The very notion of such an air-ship orbiting our planet in the times before the Pyramids is impossible to fathom, and yet, I have seen it with my own eyes.
Sheriff Clay took it upon himself to inscribe the only passage that could be translated from the structure's hull. It read: "Dominus enim noster. Enim Nigra Arma. Servi vestri sumus et praestolabor adventum tuum. Ave in Legio." Which, to my amazement, renders: "For our Lord. For the Black Arms. We are your servants, and await your return. Hail to the Legion," from Medieval Latin.
The third and final crater is just as otherworldly as the former two: measuring 19 feet deep, 50 feet in circumference, and 5,242 feet from the initial crater. At its pivot laid a hollowed cone-shaped nozzle—the propulsion device. Due to the thick plumes of smoke, the catastrophic explosions, and exposed wiring, the volunteer party was unable to penetrate the interior.
After a careful analysis of every crater and its contents, I am confident in reconstructing the impact scene. The craft must have skipped when it crashed. It struck the ground at Crater 2. The sudden termination of its terrific momentum pivoted the structure to 340 degrees, tearing off the nozzle, and launching it into Crater 3. Additionally, the diamond must have ejected itself in the "skipping," resulting in Crater 1. Furthermore, I believe the craft is similar, in form and mechanism, to the Chinese rocket. Given its size, it is capable of holding people.
On September 22, 1870, at 6:00 am, a proper excavation of craters 2 and 3 began. Four parties of professional diggers and miners quarried out the hull from Crater 2, while two additional teams excavated the nozzle at Crater 3. A telegram from Vice President Colfax authorized the transit of these components to Bowdoin University for scientific review. However, due to a miscalculation, they arrived at my office at the University of New Hampshire, here in Durham. I alone was the first to examine the components following a brief reorganization of the project.
I first examined the diamond. It weighed a remarkable 90 grams; it measured 4 inches across, standing at a height of about 2.5 inches. The diamond was not rough; it was single-cut. I never felt a smoother surface. Whoever polished it took their time for it was smoother than obsidian or polished cedar. I attempted to cut off a small piece, but the diamond was more resilient than I expected. In the vast array of scientific equipment I possessed, none could inflict so much as a scrape upon its surface. The diamond appeared to be indestructible, and so, in a decision I have come to regret, I forcefully drove the diamond into the marble counter-top. It produced a magnificent spark, splitting the tabletop into halves, but leaving no mark on the diamond.
Hammer and chisel proved ineffective at first. Against all my strength and the sharp point of the chisel, the diamond barely flinched. Then, on the fourth swing, something fantastic occurred: at the precise moment the chisel made contact with the surface, a flash of white fire expelled, showering me in yellow embers, and hurling me across the laboratory. The blast boiled all my chemicals and shattered our windows. I emerged from the debris unmolested, however. I have no way of articulating my thoughts without indulging the ludicrous, but I believe the blast was a defense mechanism triggered by the chisel's impact.
The diamond is most surely alive. My initial observations noted queer movements in the diamond's core, which I attributed to refracting light or luster. However, the movements were organic and not the result of light passing through. I then used a microscope, and I soon discovered a cloud of undulating particles swimming inside the diamond's core. Indeed, the diamond is not just alive, but might, in fact, be an organism altogether.
The genesis of the diamond remains uncertain; though I must confess my unease at the mental and physical authority this diamond holds over its handlers. Somehow I am drawn to it, as if it were luring me deeper and deeper into its misty ambit. When I recovered from the blast, my body felt enriched with electric vigor. My mind, as best as I can articulate, was opened. Every quandary I ever sought answers for seemed within tangible reach and comprehension. Stranger still, as I held the diamond in my hand, it was as if I was embracing an old friend. Like I was at home.