Morningstar Pass: The Collapse of the UFO Coverup

Morningstar Pass: The Collapse of the UFO Coverup is a science fiction novel by Victor Norgarde. It has been described^[who?] as the War and Peace of the UFO genre. It is a long novel with many characters, a broad vista, and a complex plot.

In keeping with the concept of Mediocrity the Earth is pictured in the novel as the center of a cosmic-political struggle among surrounding interstellar powers, similar to those found in 18th century Europe, or in the sci-fi novel Dune. At the end of the novel several alien characters predict that an interstellar war will grow from the events on Earth.

The book has been praised by members of the UFO community as a reasonable extrapolation of present understandings, as well as for its plotting and characters. ^[1][2] However, the book has also been criticized^[who?] for its sexual and violent content as well as for its length and editing. Its dramatic content and at times transcendental outlook has led it to be classified^[who?] as visionary fiction rather than science or political fiction. The novel is reported^[who?] to be the first novel of a trilogy.

The novel bridges Ufology and classic science-fiction, peopling the cosmos with many species of varying intentions towards humanity. One theme of the novel is "mediocrity" the concept that humanity and the Earth are not abnormal in the cosmos but part of its mainstream phenomena.^[3] This is a key concept in SETI, but in the novel it serves as a means to make both humans and aliens part of the same passionate cosmic drama. The novel is set mostly in Washington DC and the fictional town of Morningstar Colorado in the San Luis Valley. In both locales the novel explores the nightmarish landscape of modern Ufology, where alien abductions, secret government councils, "deep black" government operations, and mutilations of animals and human beings are commonplace occurrences. It has been commented that Morningstar Pass is the first UFO novel to explore a coverup collapse scenario that includes the darkest aspects of Ufology and the end results of possible secret government collusion with alien species. It is a noir novel in many respects, lightened only the courage and hope of the main characters, and a sense of supernatural struggle between good and evil. The novel draws elements from Dune, Childhood's End, the Legend of Troy, the Divine Comedy, and The Wizard of Oz. The novel incorporates many elements of present day UFO conspiracy theory.

Book Summary

In the novel the heroine Cassandra Chen and her friend Pamela Monroe, both television news anchors for a fictional news network called Central News System (CNS) receive classified documents concerning the UFO cover-up. The documents depict a US government that not only knows that the UFO aliens exist, but that has a secret treaty with them. One clause of the treaty has allowed the aliens , termed grays , to establish a secret base in an extinct volcanic mesa on government land near Morningstar. The mesa is aptly called Devil’s Mesa. The local ranchers must deal with aliens who mutilate their cattle and leave their carcasses on the range. This causes the ranchers to have armed patrols on their land and harbor deep suspicions about the role of the federal government, which will not allow them to investigate the facilities at Devil’s Mesa. By the latter parts of the book Cassandra has successfully reduced the UFO cover-up to a shambles, with FBI and Congressional investigations closing in. After she has seduced the hero, a commander of the military special forces supporting of the cover-up, named Colonel Robert Schwartzman, he leads his troops in a mutiny against the secret government. In the climax of the crisis in Washington, the ranchers down an alien craft near Morningstar and defeat paramilitary forces sent to recover it. Thus the UFO cover-up collapses.

However, rather than resign in the face of his involvement in the cover-up, the sitting US President declares a State of Emergency and orders Congress in Recess. This declaration leads to a bloody attempted coup by secret government paramilitary forces, who are counting on an alien show of force in the skies over Washington to cow all opposition. However, it is cloudy over Washington that night, and no one can see the alien ships, so the secret paramilitary forces must battle elements of the US military who support the Congress. The coup fails disastrously, and the surviving secret government forces make a frantic retreat to Devil’s Mesa where they hope that a larger intervention by the aliens will restore their fortunes. However, Cassandra Chen is taken prisoner during the coup and carried away to Devil’s Mesa. The US government, now united under a new President, surrounds Devils Mesa with artillery and troops, and issues an ultimatum to the aliens to evacuate the base and to surrender the human traitors of the formerly secret government. Cassandra is tortured when she refuses to make a propaganda broadcast on behalf of the secret government. However, she is saved by a group of mutinous guards at the facility who hope she can help them escape the coming attack on the base. She then makes the broadcast to buy time for the mutinous guards but inserts cryptic warnings to the US government of an alien counterattack, leading the US government to pre-empt and attack the mesa before its own ultimatum has run out. The attack comes and the hero and his special forces rescue her as the base is overrun. Battles occur in the mesa, in the sky above and in space as various human and alien forces collide and struggle for advantage. The book ends with Cassandra struggling to recover from the physical and psychic traumas she has lived through and the human race at war with the aliens who used to occupy the mesa.

Notes

1. ^ UFO magazine April-May 2004
2. ^ MUFON UFO Journal November 2004
3. ^ Shuch, H. Paul, SETI League Editorial: "Indistinguishable From Magic"