Why would missionaries live in that kind of Wall Street hedge-fund luxury? It made no sense.
Also quoted were the comments by neighbors who spoke about the “strange” Bienheureux family, who seemed to have only late-night visitors and who often took in children from other countries for short periods of time.
The story finished with this quote from one of the building’s doormen, Frank Wilson, thirty: “Theo? She was a good kid, never in trouble, always behaving,” he said. “I thought she had come home from school that day, but I can’t be positive. But I know I never saw her after that day. That I know for positively sure. I’m scared for her. I hope she knows she can call the building if she’s in trouble. I’ll personally go get her and bring her home.”
When questioned about the parents, Wilson would only say, “I don’t know anything about them. Quiet. You have to ask my supervisor.”
I wondered if this Wilson guy was still alive—if I could find him, or better yet, if Dona or Donald could find him—he might be a source of untapped info.
I reluctantly put the faxed document down and picked up the next one.
On the top of the story—though very badly distorted by time and the old faxing method—were three headshots of young men in various religious garb.
March 27, 1982
Special to the International Herald Tribune
Blackout Blamed on Explosion of Comet
A comet, visible only in the skies over Turkey, which had unexpectedly emerged, then brightened and exploded in record time, was the cause of the blackout that affected most of Turkey and parts of Europe, it was reported by the International Astronomical union .
Three astrophysicists who are credited with being the first to discover the astral phenomenon late last week—Professor Gaspar Bar-Cohen, director of astronomy at the Wise Observatory in Tel Aviv, Israel; Dr. Mikaeel Hussein, astrophysicist-in-residence, University of Cairo, Egypt; and Dr. Balaaditya Pawar, head of the Mount Abu Observatory, Rajasthan, India—admit that the massive size of the comet led them to believe at first that they were witnessing the emergence of a new star.
“We regret this error and apologize for having misled our colleagues with premature announcements we inadvertently passed along to the IAU,” they wrote. “The comet’s collapse resulted in its ‘coma’—a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the sun—to grow bigger even than the planet Jupiter. Furthermore, unlike most comets, VCH1244 [self-named by the three astrophysicists] lacked the tail usually associated with such celestial bodies. This resulted in our mistakenly jumping to an inaccurate conclusion.”
As for the blackout, the Gazette Journal of the Astronomical union explained, “Because there are sinkholes in the nucleus of VCH1244, which gives it a honeycomb-like structure, and because this comet had grown to such astounding proportions, it created a brief energy vacuum.”
In a conference call to the three scientists yesterday, the International Herald Tribune also learned, “This energy drain occurred as VCH1244 collapsed, which then exposed the comet’s ice to the sun, which in turn transformed the ice into gas,” Professor Bar-Cohen explained.
On March 23, the comet, which had been visible in the night sky over certain parts of Turkey, suddenly erupted and expanded as it lit up the skies over all of Turkey.
Added Professor Hussein,“What comets do when they pass near the sun is very unpredictable. We expected to see a ‘coma cloud’ and a tail, but this was more like an explosion, and we saw the bubble of gas and dust as it expanded away from the center of the blast.”
Experts estimated that the comet’s show and the ensuing energy drain it created would last for several weeks and perhaps as long as several months.
However, the dire predictions proved to be completely, if inexplicably, wrong. In fact, the comet self-destructed within hours of exploding, and by late last night all power had been restored throughout Turkey and the affected areas of Europe.
Dr. Pawar concluded, “This was a once-in-a-lifetime event to witness, similar, I expect, to what observers must have experienced in the night sky during the birth of Christ.”
I was astounded that a far-fetched explanation, the ridiculous story, and its accompanying apology—by three astrophysicists who actually said that they mistook a comet for a star—was published without question. And that was back in the day when investigative reporters actually were allowed the time to investigate a story.
But even more interesting than the cock-and-bull that those three distinguished star-men had carefully scripted for whatever reason, was Pawar’s one unguarded comment. You could almost feel his companions kicking him under the table.