Sky People (29 page)

“Do the Maya ever question who built the cities?” I asked.

“We do not have to; we know our ancestors built the cities. We are their direct descendants. We know where we come from and where we are going,” he replied, offering no further explanation.

On my last trip to Palenque in 2010, I checked into the Chan-Kah Resort and asked the hotel clerk if he knew the guide at the park named Pax. He denied any knowledge of him, but, approximately two hours later, Pax appeared at my room. We embraced as old friends. We walked to the dining room and ordered soft drinks. I explained to him that I was back in Palenque for two weeks and wanted to spend some time exploring the non-excavated buildings at Palenque. Although retired from guide service, Pax told me he could arrange for me to visit several non-excavated sites. I agreed to give him one day to make the arrangements.

The next day, I met Pax at the ancient site. “Are you still interested in ancient astronauts, Doctora?” he asked as he led me through the dense jungle. I watched as he hacked our way through the jungle forest with a machete. Occasionally he stopped and caught his breath.

“I’m still collecting stories when someone has a story to tell,” I said.

“I have some friends who have stories to tell. I talked to them yesterday. They will talk to you. For those who do not speak English, I can translate.”

“Thanks, Pax. I would really like to hear the stories. I’ve heard that there are regular sightings of UFOs at Palenque.”

“True. Many come to the Temple of Inscriptions where King Pakal was buried. Mostly balls of light go back and forth as though guarding or protecting the entrance. Mostly you see them about the time the forest turns black after the sun goes down”.

Later that evening, I drove to Pax’s house. He introduced me to his wife, three daughters, and extended family, made up of a sister, mother-in-law, mother, and several female children ranging in age from three to fourteen; all were members of his household. “I’m surrounded by women,” Pax said, as he and his daughters helped me unload the back of the vehicle. I brought with me a case of Coca-Cola, a bag of candy for the children, cigarettes, and several pizzas from the
Pizzaria Palenque
. The women quickly set about serving the food and drinks, leaving the cigarettes for Pax. As the food was served, I sat with Pax’s sister along the back wall of the house, while the men from the neighborhood, whom he had invited, congregated around a large wooden table set up beneath a huge mahogany tree. After the pizza was eaten and the men were smoking cigarettes, Pax invited me to join the group and hear their stories.

“I have a story to tell,” the youngest of the group began. He stood up from the table and picked up another Coca-Cola. He was a handsome man. If I had not known better, I would have thought from his profile that he was Pakal, whose image could be seen throughout the monuments in the ancient city. His countenance was identical to the king of the ancient city.

“I would be honored to hear your story,” I said.

“My name is Mario. I had an encounter with four aliens about ten years ago. I was fourteen then, but I still remember it. I was on my way to see my sweetheart, who is now my wife.” I saw him look toward the house and I noticed several women milling
around the door. He caught his wife’s attention and pointed her out to me. She looked at me and smiled.

“Where were you when you saw the aliens?” I asked.

“I was on my way to see Lucinda. She lived about four miles from me in another village. I was walking. It was a black, dark night. Occasionally the moon would come out from the clouds and cast a faint light on the jungle. I was nervous. A jaguar had been seen a few days back. I repeatedly shined my flashlight around the road and the forest to check for danger, but suddenly the light went out. I shook the flashlight, trying to get it to come to life. About the same time a bright light appeared over the forest and moved directly over the road. It stopped in front of me. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to run, but I was paralyzed, unable to move.” He lit a cigarette. All eyes around the table were on him.

“Are you telling me the spacecraft landed?” I asked.

“Yes. I saw steps descend from the bottom of a strange, round machine and four men came out of it. As they got closer, their silver suits glistened in the light. I had never seen such dress. One carried some kind of instrument and when he pointed it at me, I felt sick.”

“What do you mean, you felt sick?”

“It was as though lightning had struck me. I felt needles all over my body. I felt I was burning alive. Then the pain stopped and I was sick. Stomach ache. I threw up. I remember that.”

“What else do you recall?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Possibly I passed out. The next thing I remember is waking up inside their craft, but I could not focus my eyes. The light was too bright. There was a cold dampness to the room. I was lying on my stomach on a hard surface and when I tried to move, I realized I was strapped down. My back was in terrible pain. I had never had back pain. Panic set in, but before I had a chance to think of a way to escape, I woke outside my Papa’s place. Off in the distance, I saw a bright light against the black sky. One moment it was there. One moment it was gone. I decided I must be dreaming and put it out of my mind until I
met Tohil, who told me what happened to him.” He put his hand on the shoulder of his friend, who sat beside him.

“Have you had any further encounters?” I asked.

“None. One was enough.” I heard the men chuckle in the background. I looked at them. They were not laughing at Mario so much as reacting to the fear of the unknown. I looked at his friend, Tohil, who until then had been silent.

“My friend is shy, Señora. It is difficult for him to tell his story.”

“I understand that, Tohil. You do not have to tell me.” I said.

“No, Señora. I do want to tell. I just don’t speak English as good as Mario. I hope you will understand me,” Tohil said. “It happened on the same road, but I was with my friend Lorenzo.”

“Were you taken onboard their craft?” I asked.

“Sí. There were four small men who take [sic] us. We fought but we were no match for them. I think they have some way of making you helpless. They took us on their ship and put us in a room with strangers.”

“Were the strangers Maya?” I asked.

“Maybe one or two. But some were white with yellow hair. Some were in nightgowns. Some were dressed in—I can’t remember the word.” He paused and spoke in Spanish to his friend who did not seem to understand what he was trying to say.

“Were they wearing work clothes, formal clothes like evening gowns, school clothes…?” I asked.

“Yes. Fancy clothes.”

“And others?”

“Different clothes. It was like they were all taken in the middle of something else. Like going to bed, or working, or out for the evening.”

“And from your description, would you say they were all from Mexico?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. Too many blondes. Maybe all over the world. None of them saw me. No emotion, no fight. They just sat there. No movement. No life in them. I tried to talk to one man but he
did not react. The short ones saw me trying to talk to the others, and they forcibly removed me to a room away from everyone.” He paused and looked at Mario. “They forced me to drink some kind of a liquid that tasted of dirt. It was thick and slimy and I almost threw up. After a few minutes they put me inside a machine and turned me upside down. I stayed there for several minutes. I could not move. I felt numb, except I was wide awake. My head felt like it was going to explode. I don’t know how long they kept me there, but the next thing I remember, Lorenzo and me were standing alone on the dark road and the craft was disappear [sic].”

“Can you describe the craft?” I asked.

“It was a long cylinder. It had a lot of bright lights but the whole craft seemed to glow from a bright red to an orange. Once it settled to the ground, it was a light orange. But the colors were like some kind of glowing lights. I never figured that out.”

“Can you describe the beings that captured you?”

“Not well. They were short and powerful. They never spoke but I understood what they wanted.”

“Do you remember any other features of your abductors?”

“Señora, I think they drugged me because I fought so much. So everything was blurry to me.”

“Where was your friend Lorenzo while you were enduring their experiments?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I have no memory of seeing him until we found ourselves on the road together.”

“Is Lorenzo here tonight?” I asked.

“Lorenzo lives in Cancun. I can give you the address of the hotel where he works. Perhaps you can look him up. Maybe he remembers more.”

“I had a different experience,” Gabriel said. I looked at the middle-aged man who broke the silence. He was a small man, but the muscles in his arms revealed a man who worked hard all of his life. He came closer and Mario and Tohil slid over, and he sat down in front of me. When he smiled, I saw that he only had one tooth.” I worked at the Palenque ruins until my legs wore
out. I got arthritis in my knees real bad,” he explained. “The park officials like young men who can climb the pyramids and look after the tourists. I could no longer do that.” I saw a sadness in his face representative of men who had lost their jobs due to physical conditions.

“I am so sorry,” I said. “I would have hired you. I like guides who walk slower and allow me to enjoy the city,” I said. I heard the other men mumble in agreement.

“You make an old man feel happy, Señora. I will tell you my story. It happened one night. I was picking up papers, water bottles, cans that were thrown around by the tourists.”

“Is this a job required of all the tour guides?”

“Not anymore. In the old days we did everything. Mostly they hire women now. But in the old days, they expected us to keep the place clean.”

“What time was it?”

“Late in the evening. Before dark, but all the tourists were gone. I found myself over a mile from the entrance when the sky became dark and a lightning storm came up. Taking cover in one of the structures, I decided to wait out the storm. It lasted much longer than I expected. Darkness came and I was still inside the ruins. As the rain eased, I decided to head home. That’s when a circular craft came out of the clouds and settled in the plaza. Three men, covered in light, came out of the craft. They stopped in front of the Temple of Inscriptions and turned themselves into balls of light. I watched as they floated upward to the top of the entrance and then they disappeared.” He paused for a moment and lit a cigarette. “I ran across the plaza, keeping to the edges and out of sight. Before leaving the plaza, I looked back, but the craft was still there. As I walked down the hill toward the town, I saw the craft move above the trees and head south, and then in a second it was gone.”

“Do you have any idea what they wanted?” I asked.

“None. I was afraid. I wanted to get out of there. I didn’t stay to find out.”

“I have seen the lights many times,” Vincente said. Everyone turned in the direction of an elder who sat at the end of the table. Pax had introduced him to me earlier as one of his closest friends. They could have passed for brothers. “Anyone who has spent time outside at night has seen the lights. Sometimes they come from a craft; sometimes they just appear. I have seen the Sky People turn into balls of light in front of my eyes. I have also seen them disappear. They have great powers. I always try to stay away from them. They are dangerous.”

“Why do you believe they are dangerous?” I asked.

“Power destroys people. Look at the people of Earth. Those with power are destructive. These Sky Men have power much greater than the Earth men. They must be dangerous.”

“Have you ever seen them do anything destructive?” I asked.

“No. But I still believe they are dangerous.”

“I agree with Vincente,” Xaman, a full-blood Maya who described himself as a university graduate, spoke up. “I think Vincente is right. I think they are checking out the Earth. Maybe they want to take it over. Maybe they are like the Spaniards who invaded our lands. Anyone with power has the potential to destroy those who are perceived as weaker, less intelligent, or unable to defend themselves. If you do not have power, you are doomed in this universe. It is the law of the cosmos. At one time, the Maya had the power. Our ancestors chose not to pass along those powers to their children. Now we are like the others. We are at the mercy of the power people. It has been that way for centuries.” All the men nodded in agreement.

“I agree that they have great power, but I think the danger is that they can take us onboard their craft and make us do whatever they want and the Mexican military cannot protect us,” the elder Vicente said. “I don’t think they are the Sky Gods of our grandfathers. The visitors today are others from the universe. The ones who brought us here looked like us. The ones we have seen are taller than us, shorter than us, and none of them look like us.” The other men nodded in agreement.

“Does anyone else have a story to share with the Doctora?” Pax asked.

“I have a story,” a woman called from the doorway. When I asked Pax to invite the women to tell their stories, three came forth. The men immediately stood and disappeared. The women sat down at the table. They were all related to Pax, either by marriage or bloodlines. Pax stayed behind to translate.

“I cannot tell this story in front of the other men,” Isabella, Pax’s sister, said. “Pax is okay. He is our priest, our father, our confessor, our relative. I do not tell this story to many people, but I like you,” she declared. She walked to the table and sat across from me. “I was taken onboard a space ship and they took samples of my hair and I think they examined me. I was about fifteen at the time. I could not remember much of what happened to me, but later, I was in front of my house. I had my clothes in my hand. I was naked.”

“Did you notice anything different about your body?” I asked.

“My time of the month had started. I became a woman overnight.”

“Did you have any marks on your body?” I asked.