The Young Astronomer

        “Aiden! It’s getting late! You need to go to bed so you aren’t late for school tomorrow!” Pamela’s voice boomed across the acres of the family ranch backyard.

               “In a minute, mom! I’m still trying to align this telescope to see if I can chart the trajectory of Jupiter’s moons and calculating the impact of Jupiter’s gravity on them!” Aiden replied without looking up from the eyepiece on his telescope, his tone annoyed at the interruption. The telescope was pointed at the sky peppered with hundreds, if not thousands of stars. The sky only lit by the stars with no light pollution from cities to interrupt Aiden’s research.

               Pamela walked back into the home, shutting the sliding glass door behind her. She turned her husband, Mark, who sat on his Laz-E-Boy recliner staring at “Seinfeld” reruns. Pamela gave a sharp sigh and flatly stated “I don’t know what we are going to do about that boy. He needs some hobbies or friends outside Astronomy, like a normal teenager.”

               Suddenly, Aiden burst through the screen door in a frenzy. His shoulder-length blonde hair bobbed to the pace of his run into the house.

               “What’s the matter with you?” Pamela queried, but she did not get a response. Aiden breezed past her, his feet barely picking up across the wooden floors.

               Aiden burst into his bedroom, immediately jumping into his computer chair, his excitement practically causing him to leap from the door to the black office chair on the other side of the bedroom. He immediately started the computer. As the computer loaded, he took his iPhone from his sweatpants pocket, his hands shaking as he held the phone up to his face. His thumbs frantically moved across the screen. 

               Aiden’s computer finally loaded. He opened his email account and there it was, the picture that he had sent to his email. When he clicked on the email, a picture popped up. The picture centered upon a round rocky object with pointed metallic-looking protrusions sticking out of each of the eight cardinal directions. The edges of the photo were encircled by a black ring, as if the photo was taken through another camera lens. There was a smudge at the right bottom corner of the photo with gaseous clouds looking like Jupiter, but the photo is unclear as to what the smudge actually is.

               Aiden logged onto Facebook and opened the group “Central Texas Amateur Astronomy.” He uploaded the photo, adding the caption “Located near Jupiter. What is this? Doesn’t look like any comet I’ve ever seen. New moon? Alien ship?” He pressed send with an air of anticipation for the answers and theories for the post. What could his picture have been?

               The adrenaline of the telescope find quickly wore off. The next thing Aiden knew was that he blinked and the next time he opened his eyes, it was to the headache-inducing alarm ringing that always woke him up at 7:00. He got dressed in his X-Files “The Truth Is Out There” T-shirt and red shorts, and hopped to the school bus. On the bus, he sat in a seat with no one next to him. He opened up the Facebook app to over 200 likes on his post and numerous comments such as: “Never heard of this. Govt obv hiding this form us? Why?”, “They live among us,” “It’s clearly a photoshop,” and “First contact is happening and I am here for it.” There were no illuminating comments on the post, much to Aiden’s dismay.

               But Aiden noticed a message request notification from a person named Adam Bonilla reading: “This is Adam, the culture reporter from the Central Texas Daily Picayune Times Bugle reaching out. I saw your post on the Facebook group ‘Central Texas Amateur Astronomy’ receiving a lot of buzz. It looked like an interesting discovery that our readers would be fascinated by. I think our readers would also be fascinated by the teenage hobbyist who found this discovery that even the scientists at NASA haven’t been able to find.”

               While Aiden was trifled by the reference to him as a “hobbyist,” he was intrigued by the prospect of an interview regarding his photo. Maybe getting into the paper will help get him some attention from his peers, or more importantly, be a stepping-stone to get him into CalTech. Of course, this could also be some sort of catfishing scam. As the bus pulled into the school parking lot, Aiden hurriedly looked up “The Central Texas Picayune Times Bugle” on Google. The search results pulled up on online page that looked to be a legitimate news page, if not lighter fare as the top story was about the County Fair. Another Google search revealed that it was the 8^th most popular news publication in the Central Texas area. The paper seemed legitimate and being mentioned would be good for Aiden’s future prospects.

               Aiden decided to respond to the reporter’s Facebook message. Unfortunately, Aiden had to rush to class so all he could type is “I’m willing to chat. Zoom call after school.” Aiden’s uncharged phone died right before his first class, so he was unable to see the response. Aiden’s mind wandered throughout the school day. What would the interview be about? What type of questions would he receive? Would there be personal questions? Maybe questions on his dating life-what dating life? Then Aiden’s mind went to the more esoteric. Maybe this guy will ask questions regarding his parents. Or it’s a setup by the FBI to get him convicted of some crime he didn’t know he committed. Maybe it’s a sting for that song he downloaded 6 years ago. Maybe he shouldn’t have accepted. Now he’s in too deep. Or he’s just being paranoid and Adam Bonilla is a legitimate journalist. Why didn’t he look the journalist up before accepting?

               As with any phone-addicted person without their phone sustaining them, Aiden was bored looking out the window on the bus ride home from school, his thoughts vacillating between the excitement of getting his name out there and the paranoia of what if this was a setup.

               Aiden finally got home and ran to his computer. He plugged in his phone and turned on his computer in one fluid motion. As soon as the computer booted up, Aiden opened up Facebook and opened the response from the reporter. “Today Zoom at 5PM? I just need a couple quick comments for my story.” Aiden gave a response that belied his nervousness: “See you then!”

               Once the clock rolled around to 5 PM, Aiden opened the webcam on his computer to the punctual reporter. The computer screen revealed the reporter had what appeared to be a pantheon of books behind him, mostly regarding technology, current affairs, and astronomy. Despite the bookshelf background, Aiden was not intimidated by the fact his background was just his bed. The reporter himself appeared to be a millennial and was not as formally-dressed as Aiden expected. He had black hair slicked to the side, but was also dressed in a loose green polo shirt. This lack of formal attire relaxed Aiden. The parties began to converse. After pleasantries were exchanged in which the reporter again promised this would be a quick chat and obtained consent from Aiden to record the session for Adam’s note-taking, the conversation began in earnest.

               The reporter started his questioning: “So Aiden, why don’t you give a little background about yourself? I understand you are a high school student? What are some of your interests?”

               “Well…”Aiden pondered how to carefully answer the question. “…I am a high school student at Hill Country Heights High School, freshman year. I would say that my interests include, obviously Astronomy, which I have been interested in since I was a toddler and my dad took my to visit NASA out near Houston. I also stream computer games, so you can tell your readers to follow my Twitch. Aiden69…”

               “I got it,” Adam interrupted, “So now going on to the photo itself. What were the circumstances regarding the picture and how was it taken?”

               “Well, as I mentioned, I am a bit of an astronomy buff, so I was looking in my telescope charting the paths of Jupiter’s moons when I suddenly saw this object that I had never seen before. This object had the protrusions that you see in the photos, which I never saw in any sort of moon, comet, or asteroid. This object was way closer to Jupiter than any moon I’m aware of should have been. I found it strange that Jupiter’s gravity was not affecting this object. Almost as if there was some form of propulsion pushing it. I hadn’t seen anything like this in any of the astronomy forums I frequent, so I figured I would take a picture of it. Which I did with my iPhone. I thought maybe a professional would be able to figure out what it is.”

               “Alright. I think that’s all I need. Thank you for your time.” Adam closed the Zoom call.

               That evening, Aiden could not get to sleep. He was actually profiled as an astronomer. People will surely recognize him for his astronomy talents now, instead of just dismissing him. The next morning, he received an email from Adam with a link attached. Aiden clicked on the article discussing the photo with a brief description of Aiden. No mention of the Twitch stream much to Aiden’s disappointment. That would have been great advertising. The article was otherwise just commentary on social media reactions to the photograph.

               However, as soon as Aiden finished the article, his phone rang with an unknown number. Aiden normally would dismiss this as a telemarketer, but his gut told him to pick up the phone. “Hello?” Aiden answered.

               The voice on the other end was deadpan. “Hello. This is Dr. Alex Maverick from Baylor University School of Astronomy. I read the article regarding the photo in the newspaper and wanted to get in touch with you. I have further information regarding the anomaly photographed. If you want this information, please contact me at a location to be specified. Its classified.”

               “Should I meet you at your office?” Aiden inquired.

               “No. My office is being bugged by the government to make sure my work doesn’t reveal anything they don’t want revealed. I will text you the address. See you at 1700 hours.”

               The line clicked dead. Aiden’s phone buzzed with the address. Naturally curious, Aiden typed in the address from the text into his Google search, still unsure as to whether or not he would actually be there at 5 PM. The address showed an isolated building with the caption United Astronomers of Extraterrestrial Anomalies in Central Texas. Bulky run-on name aside, nothing seemed suspicious to Aiden. “Alright,” Aiden thought, “This seems like a place for like-minded people to meet. I will go there later this evening. See what its all about. Doesn’t seem like too far of a bike ride from here.”

               After school that day, Aiden took the hour-long bike-ride to the address shown on the text. The building was a dilapidated wooden shack that could not have been more than about 10 feet by 10 feet. It was also the only building at least a half-mile in the direction Aiden came from. Aiden looked around but there were no other buildings within eyesight. Aiden parked his bike along side the building.

               The door had a buzzer, but Aiden heard the door unlock as soon as he approached. He entered the door and immediately there was a stairway leading underground. There was LED lights brightening the stairway, but the concrete walls and unpolished wood handrails did not provide Aiden comfort. As soon as he was about to turn to get out of the situation, steel bars popped up from the ground and locked the door. He then heard a call from downstairs “We are waiting for you to discuss this photo.”

               Aiden stomach turned but he ended up walking down the stairs. After approximately twenty-five steps, Aiden approached the ground floor. There was a wooden desk with an older man wearing what appeared to be army fatigues. The older man’s hair was grey and flat. Behind him was a series of posters showing various star charts and positions. The walls were blanketed with materials and posters regarding extraterrestrial beings.

               “Aiden, I must warn you that you are in big trouble. That photo shows material deemed classified by the United States government.” The older man had a husky, gravelly voice.

               “Professor Maverick? What should I do?” Aiden eyes filled with worry.

               “Professor Maverick? Oh yea. That cover story to get you here. I am Sergeant McPherson of the United States Army. I read about your little escapade in the paper. Where did you get the photo?” Sgt. McPherson’s voice kept raising in anger and firmness with each passing syllable.

               “I…took…the picture. I placed the phone on my telescope and took the damn picture.” Aiden’s nerves resolved into a typical teenage male assertiveness. “I don’t know what you’re talking about with this classified material crap! I know my rights! I’m getting out of here.”

               “That door is not going to unlock unless you can prove to me where you got the picture.”

               “Fine! Let me show you my phone!” Aiden took out his phone and pulled the picture up. He then shoved the phone about an inch from Sgt. McPherson’s eye. “See! Here’s the photo! And let me pull up the data to show when it was taken! Here you go. Two days ago at 9:46 PM!”

               Aiden’s evidence seemed to convince the Sergeant. McPherson’s steely gaze turned into a look of bewilderment. “H…how? How was this taken?” He looked to be in shock. “Well, what can I do for you to take down the photo from all social media site? We can have the paper issue a correction in tomorrow’s edition.”

               “Well, give me $10,000,000 to drop this.”

               “Kid, I have the authority to throw you in prison for stealing and disseminating state secrets. Now I don’t want to do that, but you have to be realistic here. Work with me and I will work with you.”

               “Alright fine. Can you get me a full ride into CalTech?”

               “I think that can work. CalTech would have to accept, but I think we can have a federal grant made contingent on acceptance into that institution.”

               The parties shook hands. “Can I go now?” Aiden stated, with a hint of annoyance at having been locked in this basement.

               “Go ahead.”

               Aiden left the building, but his mind was wheeling. Was it right for him to accept a scholarship to CalTech on the basis of a Photoshopped work? No, it was fine since his little experiment worked. It proved how fast faked information can be taken as fact and worry the government. But the Sergeant kept mentioning how this was a classified file. If he faked the photo, then what really was out there?