It was a proud moment of excitement for Americans when Alan Shepard became our first man in space. There he is on the front cover of LIFE, the issue of May 12, 1961 (20 cents), shown being plucked from the water by a chopper after his safe return. The headline: ‘AOK!’ THE U.S. IS IN SPACE.

The United States and the Soviet Union both launched men into space that year. But here in America when we were blind-sided by Sputnik the race to space became an urgent national priority. I stood in my yard that October of 1957 staring up in the night sky with both wonderment and consternation at that shining speck moving far overhead in its orbit; feeling almost betrayed that the Russians could possibly do such a thing before we did! How could such a thing have happened? Some of us shared our feelings that it felt like suddenly finding yourself being exposed and naked in public to a bunch of strangers! I was working at the LAX division of North American Aviation at the time during the F-86 Saberjet project and thought I knew something of what was going on; but despite our security clearances it seems none of us did.

For those interested, a search of the literature of the time is absolutely fascinating, in particular the comments of some of our leaders back then. Yes, many of us were fearful the Russians were soon going to be using satellites to take pictures of our secret installations, even launching satellites capable of raining nuclear bombs on America from space. There had been Roswell fueling speculation about UFOs, films like “The Day the Earth Stood Still” held us spellbound, our imaginations were working overtime as Hollywood rushed to get into full SciFi mode. So many of those older films have become classics, and I can still enjoy watching “The Blob” among many others.

However, no matter the changes between then and now some things have not changed; the government operated in secrecy then and operates in secrecy now, and the one constant is we were lied to by politicians back then and we are still being lied to by politicians now. Years ago Walt Kelly pointed out in Pogo “The dollar’s smaller...the bomb’s bigger.” In many ways this is what politicians considered “progress” then, and in many ways it is what politicians consider “progress” now. Back then we were being assured M.A.D. guaranteed our safety, and this is supposed to still make us feel safe though we are not being told for example what the Israeli’s really attacked and bombed in Syria or why.

But here we are, these decades later after so many truly amazing advances in science and technology, amazing inventions leading to the computer age together with the successes in space after Alan Shepard’s heroic ride including moon landings, putting Rovers on Mars, the Hubble Telescope and being able to hit a comet in space with surreal accuracy, and shuttle launches galore to the International Space Station. But despite all the near-miraculous technology including computers and the numbers of satellites now circling the earth no one can find Steve Fossett!

Ok, perhaps he met a humdrum end due to fateful circumstances as those in “Fate is the Hunter,” perhaps he may yet be found or even come walking out of that vast desert with an amazing story of survival to tell. This I know, it was aptly pointed out that looking for him was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack, and those of us well-traveled in the vastness of desert wastelands and very familiar with such wilderness environments know this is exactly the situation.

That said, the larger mystery is how we have been able to produce such marvels of science and technology enabling so much SciFi come to life inventions and capabilities like landing men on the moon and are unable to find a particular aircraft gone missing right in our own backyard? No matter the facts surrounding the needle in a haystack scenario, by now shouldn’t we be able to find that needle? Given the government propaganda about the tremendous capabilities possessed by our military and intelligence agencies, I have the uneasy feeling that perhaps our government is not being forthcoming about the limitations. And hearing of amateurs using their home computers in attempts to find Fossett only lends to my feeling of uneasiness. At that point the whole thing does become quite surreal; and it’s as though I was being transported back to “Bachelor in Paradise” where Bob Hope is trying to cope with all the “conveniences” of “modern living.” And the saga of Fossett makes me wonder how far we have really advanced in many ways we believe we finally have a handle on things?

I still love a mystery, and my whimsical turn of mind is given to speculation beyond what I can see or prove. But given no ELT or GPS signal from Fossett, given the enormous resources committed to finding him my whimsy turns to things like his proximity to Area 51, thoughts of extraterrestrials and flying saucers, all of this augmented by the one fact I can rely on. Those in our government lie to us. And while “abductees” are written off as kooks, perhaps the circumstances in the films “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Independence Day” may yet prove to be more fact than fiction. Face it; when those in authority lie, no one knows the truth and fancy and conspiracy theories take wing.

However, in regard to whimsy while most of us I imagine are prone to write off as kooks those claiming to worship Satan, looking about the world it does seem easier to believe there is a Devil than some benevolent chief deity watching out for us; and my moments of whimsy may be evidence of “The idle mind is the Devil’s playground.” But we really don’t know the answers to many things, and though it be only whimsy we don’t know whether it will be Klaatu or the scenario in “Mars Attacks” we may yet face; and my tongue in cheek response to whether genetics and robotics will combine in Artificial Intelligence that may displace natural human beings attributed to God is: Can we do any worse? Notwithstanding all the Dr. Frankenstein scenarios, I can hardly be faulted for entertaining the question at times.

In my opinion, believing Satan to be real is a way of viewing the world and understanding why it is in the grip of evil and lunatics appear to be running asylum earth. In my opinion there is nothing we can do to prevent the Devil putting those he chooses in power, there is nothing we can do to prevent the mad dictators and tyrants in power from making untold millions suffer as a result of their madness.

Whether a Devil or not, humankind always faces the answer of Frank to a mad Rocco in the film noir “Key Largo.” What was it Rocco wanted, what would it take to satisfy him? Frank sums it up succinctly in one word: “More.” And responding to Frank’s answer Rocco replies, “That’s it...more.”

I believe the same thing motivates Satan. I think of Satan as a mad man, and in his madness seeking insanely for the only thing that he believes will satisfy him: More! But all Citizen Kane is able to murmur in the end is “Rosebud.” Whatever one’s beliefs or disbeliefs more will never satisfy anyone that selfishly seeks power and authority over others; that selfishly does evil just so they can have “More.”