D136-2 Letter from the typist to Villgrasa. The Ummites sleep at the typist's home.

Mr. Enrique Villagrasa

MADRID

Madrid 4 June 1967

Dear Sir:

Some months ago I wrote you a letter on account of a meeting we had planned, a meeting which, as I will tell you further on, could not take place. I am the gentleman who until now has been typing what those gentlemen from the Planet Ummo have been dictating to me.

Surely you have heard about everything that has happened these days, and I could not resist the temptation to open my heart to you. I believe that what has happened surpasses anything one could imagine.

I want to remind you that in my last letter I told you my whole story, which, if I told it to many people, they would think I was mad, but you already know them and can understand me. Even my wife, who until a few days ago was rather sceptical and believed they were espionage agents (You know that when a woman gets something into her head she does not reason and there is no convincing her with arguments), in view of what has happened has had to bow to the evidence; for now perhaps those who do not know about this matter will do well not to believe it, but those of us who have lived it, and I think I have lived it more than you, would have to be mad not to admit the facts.

For some months now, and since I wrote to you, more things have happened.

Do you remember the proposal made by us and this gentleman to whom they wrote a lot and who is a professor of Medicine, who is sceptical and does not believe either that they come from UMMO (although I suppose he will have changed his mind by now)?

Well: On their return they found out and were quite angry; they forbade us to go on planning the meeting, indicating that they would cut off all relations with us if we did, on the basis that we had promised to keep this matter secret. I went to visit the Doctor and he received me worried about this matter.

He told me that everything was very confused and strange (I do not see it as so confused, and less so now). He told me that he admitted the facts were very extraordinary and that he corresponded with another doctor in North America with whom they also communicated, and that yes, he believed they were extraterrestrial, but that he could not admit it, for he said it was absurd ("Absurd" it may be, but nobody will convince me of the contrary now), and that he believed it was some secret commission of some state with aims unknown to us (What a way of looking for complications: This gentleman may be very much a professor and very intelligent, but if facts are not believed they must be explained in a more logical way, not by giving an explanation that is even more absurd). In any case he acknowledged that they were exceptional foreigners with an erudition and procedures unknown in Medicine.

In any case he acknowledged that he owed them a great deal, and that the gentlemanly attitude was to comply with the request they had made us not to call a meeting of all of us who know them personally or by letter or by telephone, as we had planned. The wife of this professor, who was with us (for I also went with my wife), was also in favour of keeping the secret they asked of us; on the other hand she was more of a believer than her husband. Of course, in all truth, he did not say it was not true, but that he doubted it before asserting it.

Things being so, other gentlemen from UMMO came to our home. I met one who did not speak and another who seemed older and has been a long time in South America. Those days we had a lot of work, even though I know they also dictate letters to another gentleman who is an administrative assistant. I wrote under dictation to other gentlemen we had not written to before, All from Madrid except one from Valencia, the latter also a doctor, and the others are: An Engineer from ICAI. A writer, a professor at the University who teaches Exact Sciences, and two others whose profession I do not know. I spoke on the telephone with the professor of Exact sciences and he was very intrigued; he asked me many questions, for in the end he told me he believed it was I who was writing to him the reports dealing with a question he asked about something called LATTICE THEORY in its application to stochastic processes. (If you had seen how astonished he was at the answer they gave him...! It took some doing to make him see that I had not studied Mathematics and was not a professor, as he said.) On the other hand they have stopped writing to some gentlemen who knew them before, for example the Industrial Engineer.

Meanwhile my brother-in-law, already informed of what was going on, was upset, for he thought this matter could bring us serious trouble, but since I do not accept advice unless I am given reasons, I answered him that he should tell me what kind of trouble could happen to me. For by typing some things they dictate to me I am doing nothing against the law. The truth is that he was more frightened than I, since he had come to be convinced that they were telling the truth when they asserted they came from Ummo.

But from dealing with them I have become convinced that they are the best people I have seen in my life. We of the Earth would like to go about with the lack of malice they have, and to be as understanding and impartial in understanding the most intimate things. Just hearing the gentleness and seriousness with which they reprimand and say things shows what they are like. And do not think they are naive; just by looking at you they seem to see right through you.

But at the end of last year they dictated some things to me in which they told one of the correspondents that one of their interplanetary ships was going to come between January and May.

Indeed, on a visit two of them paid me on Sunday 14 May I noticed that something was going on, for they dictated a letter to me which left me astonished, since it was a business letter addressed to Australia asking for information on some thermo-acoustic insulating panels. They had never dictated anything like it to me. The most curious thing was that they brought me some sheets and envelopes with the letterhead of a Madrid commercial Firm specializing in the decoration of commercial premises. (Incidentally, out of curiosity I went to that address and I know it is an Architect to whom we had never written

Moreover, they began coming to our home more frequently to dictate scientific things to me, but on the other hand they paid less attention to this matter, for before, as soon as a report was written it was gone over by their superior, who is called Dei 98, and he would order me to send it by post immediately. Now on the other hand they dictated more things and gave me a sort of diary with instructions to send them more spaced out, on different dates to each person. For example, something he sent you on a mathematical matter about the ibodoo uu I have kept longer, waiting for the date they set.

On 26 May at seven in the evening there came Asoo 3 son of Agú 28, whom I already knew, for he has dictated things for several persons, with the same silent gentleman of the day before; they carried an ordinary, very modern, medium-sized leather suitcase, which we thought would be the luggage of the two ladies or young ladies who were to come. They chatted with us after asking us to examine all the rooms. They told us they were waiting until nightfall to do something. The Superior would arrive around half past ten. We also learned that "several more brothers" were waiting in the street. They would not accept anything but water.

It was already getting dark when they asked us to turn off the dining-room light and to open the balcony wide. The one who did not speak Spanish remained seated with his eyes closed and motionless, as if he were hypnotized, and the other took out something like a fountain pen, and it began to emit a sort of continuous hum with ups and downs, for they were communicating something to them. Meanwhile the other would wake up from time to time and speak to him in their language.

Night had already fallen. It must have been twenty to ten, and they put the suitcase in front of the balcony and opened it. My wife and I were sitting without saying a word and very impressed. As opposite us there is a neon sign of an electrical and household-appliance shop, one could see well what they were doing although the lights were off. First they looked carefully to see whether there was anyone on the balconies, which, although they do not face us, on the other side of our building, are not far away. Then they began to take out of the suitcase some little balls, metallic-looking, the size of a tennis ball, and other smaller ones. I had already seen one months before. It is something extraordinary. They stay in the air and go to all heights as if radio-controlled. In addition they took out two others which, although they could not be seen well, were of a shape similar to this

In all they must have taken out twenty-odd of different kinds. One by one they took them out onto the balcony, and like bubbles or tiny balloons they disappeared towards the street. At least four more passed near the ceiling, skirting the lamp, and went into the corridor of the flat. Then they asked our permission and went off down the corridor, and we heard the front door open. When they came back the suitcase was empty. Meanwhile the one who did not know Spanish was handling a metal rod with a disc in the centre.

At a quarter to eleven there was a knock at the door. The most astonishing thing is that while chatting with us Asoo 3 told us they had already reached the street door, and although I know the entrance is not closed until later, they told me it was not prudent for me to go down to receive her.

We went to open the door very nervous. Accompanied by DEI 98 came two young ladies: One of them taller and the other much younger and petite; they wore very modern suede coats, brown the older girl and straw-green the young one, who we already knew was she. Incidentally she herself carried a carry-on bag of leatherette or plastic that said B.E.A., of the Airlines. They had no other luggage. Both were blonde and wore their hair loose. They were dressed very modernly but discreetly.

The more petite one (Who was the chief), with an English accent and speaking very bad Spanish, although she could be understood, addressed my wife and said something like that she thanked from her heart the hospitality of the country Spain; we all went into the dining room, but after the two gentlemen from before had taken their leave. Never in my life have I felt more uncomfortable, for when we sat down, Miss "Yu" one, my wife and I, the older girl, who was called something like UUOO one hundred and twenty-something, and Dei 98, who is the man who has impressed me most in my life by his infinite intelligence, remained standing, which was very awkward, and here I do make a criticism, for although it may be their custom towards their superior out of respect, they should have realized that my wife and I felt very awkward.

For example, I, who miss nothing, noticed that every time she asked them something they answered lowering their eyes, as if they did not dare look at her. She is almost a child; she cannot be even nineteen, as far as we know, but she looked sixteen. The other looked twenty-three or twenty-five. Of course what most astonished my wife was that it should be she, being one of the youngest of those present, who was in command, and she cannot think of anything better than to tell her so. The three of them laughed, and she said we should not think that on UMMO the young yie are in command, that it depended on many factors.

We talked a lot about Spanish customs. The only thing that repelled her was bullfighting. The Planet Ummo was not spoken of at all. She asked us many questions about the Spanish regime; she was informed about many things, about the Referendum and even about the Cortes; I told her that we did not want to have anything to do with politics since the Reds killed my father in the War. I was astonished at what she knew. My wife listened to her shyly without daring to speak. She noticed and very sweetly began to talk about Spanish cooking and that it saddened her very much to know that Spanish women read little and are not given intellectual training as men are, and that she was sure that femininity was never lost through greater education. Then she looked smiling at the other, and the latter opened the travel bag and gave my wife a marvellous home encyclopaedia, with colour plates and in Spanish.

We had supper there; my wife was astonished, for they forced her to let them help her. What astonished us most is that they ate with us; they refused to drink wine. They had already told us they wanted a frugal supper, and my wife had prepared beforehand boiled potatoes, soft-boiled eggs and fruit for them (oranges and bananas); another awkward thing is that she begged so much that at the end of supper she insisted on washing the dishes herself (the superior), and her secretary stood without helping, as my wife told me later, whose shyness, incidentally, went away, and while they dried the plates they chatted a lot. (I stayed talking at the table after supper with Dei 98.) Another thing that struck us is that before sitting down to supper they asked our permission to take off their shoes. The older young lady knelt down and quite naturally took off her chief's shoes, and then they took off their own. During supper they did sit down, but they did not speak as long as she did not ask them questions.

The most awkward thing came later, for very discreetly they asked our permission to retire. We again begged them to sleep in our bed or at least in an armchair that is a sofa bed, but it was useless.

Dei 98 went out to the street. I learned that he was going to a nearby hotel, where they had provisionally set up a sort of official Centre of theirs. I believe with the sole mission of protecting Miss Yu one

Besides, I believe several of them were walking around the neighbourhood all night.

I say it was very awkward because she would not even allow my wife to give her a blanket. She told us smiling that she was simply going to sleep on the floor. In the dining room itself. We did not know what to do or say. The older young lady, who spoke Spanish much better than her superior, asked our permission "to put something on the floor", telling us not to worry, that the next day nothing would show and it would not spoil the tiles. She took out a cylinder that looked nickel-plated, and an incredible quantity of yellow foam came out, which left a large stain on the floor as if it were varnish. We did not even dare to ask. Miss YU stayed inside, and the three of us went out. The other said she would not lie down, that she would stay standing in the corridor all night. When we went into the bedroom we were so nervous and worried that we did not even dare to undress. I do not know why my wife took it into her head to make me more nervous by saying that perhaps the police would come, as if we were committing a crime or something wrong.

Sitting on the bed without speaking, after twenty minutes, she up and says she wanted to knock in case they needed anything. Later she told me about it. The older girl was walking up and down the dark corridor with her arms folded. In a low voice she asked her whether it would be proper to say good night to her and ask her whether she wanted anything. The other told her that indeed it was a courtesy and that she should go in without knocking; my wife wanted to knock with her knuckles, but the other kindly told her no, to go in, for she was surely not asleep yet. The two of them went in. Our dining room has a long table, and there is another little round table in a corner, near the balcony. The balcony was half open. The light was off, but my wife says that on the floor beside her and the round table there was something like a disc somewhat larger than a fifty-peseta coin, which glowed a lot, and she could be seen quite well. She sat up and my wife asked her whether she wanted anything, that she was nervous thinking she would be uncomfortable. My wife says she wore a kind of bathing suit. As the light was dim she could not make out what it was made of. She was on the bare floor, on the yellow stain. They spoke a few words and came out again.

In the corridor she talked with the other. They talked in low voices for a long time. This "young lady" turned out to be married, and her husband was on UMMO, and she had come to our Planet selected. There on UMMO she was, so to speak, a teacher of a speciality of Mathematics, and her mission on Earth my wife could not explain to me well, but it seems it was related to the study of the history of the physicists there have been here in the past. While in Mexico she committed an act of disobedience, and it seems that she was something like being punished by having to serve as maid to her chief. Well, a long story.

We got up early. They were already chatting in the dining room. They asked our permission to go into the bathroom. First the older one bathed, and YU stayed outside talking with us. Then the two of them went in. The most curious thing is that my wife noticed they had not used the towels or the soap, although the bath had been used. The yellow stain on the floor was no longer there. Not even with a magnifying glass was there anything left! They did not want breakfast, although they insisted that we have it. Something else happened. While Yu one was talking with us, the other, who was standing, began to look at and examine, turning her head, the dining-room furniture. The young girl noticed, and this time in her own language said something to her in a tone that seemed gentle to us, but the older one, UUO, went red, her lips trembled and her eyes grew moist. We pretended not to notice and went on talking.

They left early and came back at night. We will never forget the conversations we had with that young woman. My wife was so impressed that she confessed to me that now she really believed they were from Ummo. Besides, on the same day, the 27th, Dei 98 came to dictate several things to me, among them some letters which you would receive: one in which he gave the news of the arrival in Brazil, Bolivia and Spain of some interplanetary ships of theirs. He dictated more reports to me and said he would go on doing so on Sunday and Tuesday, for he did not know whether his superior would give them all the order to leave, and he suspected she would, since he knew that no one else would come down from the Ship and that all his brothers had received orders to gather, leaving the other countries where they were, in Brazil, Bolivia and Spain. I asked him if they would come back and he told me he did not even know for sure whether they were leaving. I asked him whether she would know or whether they were waiting for orders when the Ships arrived, and he told me it was not necessary to wait for the Ships to know the orders (they call the ships Oauelea ueba oemm). And that she knew, but that she was not in the habit of giving explanations to those who were submissive to her. But that just in case he himself would dictate some more reports to me so that, in the event of their departure, I would send them to certain persons on certain dates (Incidentally, he gave me three other typed reports for three persons living in Paris and Lyon, written in French). The following day, Sunday, in the afternoon, Yu came back without her sister but accompanied by Asoo three and by another, very young, whom I did not know and who did not speak Spanish either (or did not want to speak it). They gave me some little parcels to send and an envelope for me, asking me not to open it yet. Asoo three asked me privately that, whatever happened, I should keep my identity secret, since if they returned to Earth I and another gentleman were the only links in Spain. Yu one said goodbye to us on Tuesday morning, saying she would not sleep in our home any more and that they would spend the night on the outskirts of Madrid. Dei 98 came to pick her up and they got into a taxi whose number plate I have noted down. We were deeply moved when we said goodbye to them. I have not seen them again.

From the newspapers I learned that the Ship arrived. In one of them there are even photographs. All Wednesday night my wife and I walked around the Casa de Campo and Argüelles, for they had told us the arrival was more likely on the Wednesday itself than on the Thursday. On Thursday we stayed until eleven at night around the Ciudad Universitaria, and seeing that we saw nothing, dead tired, we went home. The following afternoon we learned of it from the newspaper Pueblo and bought all the evening papers for news. We also telephoned the but there was no answer.

I had stopped doubting a long time ago, but this, in case any doubt remained, finally convinced me, and my wife too. I no longer know whether I am dreaming; were it not that there are you, those who receive my letters, and my wife who has known them, and my brother-in-law, and the news in the papers, I would think I was mad. This is the greatest thing I have known in my life, and were it not that they have begged me for discretion, I would no longer mind being taken for a madman and proclaiming it to the four winds.

The only thing that worries me now is one thing: Why have they gone like that, so suddenly, and all of them at that? On Sunday the 28th at night my wife and I had another long talk with her. She gave us marvellous advice about food, about how to bring up children; we talked about the Americans' space journeys to the moon, and she told us things about Astronomy that left us open-mouthed, to the point that I, who at first felt inferior because she was almost a young girl, felt dominated by her, and I do not know how the whole business of Egypt and the Jews came up. I asked her what she thought and she said we should not worry, that there would be no World War, but then she became thoughtful and the two of them looked at each other very meaningfully. Then, as if she realized we had caught that look, she repeated in a firm voice that we should not worry. That there would be no such War. But I have turned this matter over and over. Why are they all leaving so suddenly? They say rats abandon ships that then end up sinking... They have been carrying out their studies, they were dictating scientific reports and other things to me, and suddenly... Did she tell us that about there being no War to reassure us, as children were lied to in wartime before a bombing? They are very well informed about Politics and armaments. Before the explosion of the Chinese bomb Dei 98 announced it to me with the exact time that the newspapers later gave (which made me wonder, incidentally, whether my wife might be right and they were spies).

Well: I have unburdened myself to you, for I needed to. I intend to write another letter tonight to another of the gentlemen who receive reports

I wish to express my friendship to you, for you and I have been witnesses of this. Forgive me if I do not sign.