198 | John W. Warner IV it accelerated out of sight. He thought it may have had Luftwaffe markings, but wasnt quite sure. When Rodgers told me what Hess had to say I began ruminating with Menzies and the admirals. This…ro«/i/be a German airship, and potentially a very big one at that. Blurry image, was the pilot sure? asked Alice, using a magnifying loop and dripping melon juice. McMaster said: Please be careful. Ive been told hes reliable and experienced. Its no Foo-Fighter, that Im sure of, said Bernie confidently, mouth full of cucumber sandwich. The Russians know the difference by now. A what, monsieur? McMaster passed a tray of nuts. An unidentified and unexplainable aerial phenomenon. Round balls of bright plasma flying very fast. They can pass right through an airframe and make no damage. Unknown origin. Unknown propulsion. Most likely peaceful. Intelligently controlled. They gather data we think. Spies from…another world? asked Gwafa. Another dimension? Maybe, said Bernie. Possibly. This ones even blurrier, said Alice. Bea looked up from the perplexing photos. All right, Rodgers, whats going on in that fat, Foo-Fighter-infested head of yours? Bernie dashed back to the big wall map. What if…what if the Germans perfected the airship technology after capturing some of the originals in Argentina? What if they convinced some of the more technical and materialist science people to join their nationalistic cause? I think the Thule or Vril Society, both of which are much older than we thought, brought some of these people into the proto-Nazi fold before the last war, 1905, 1910 or so, it makes sense. He used a yardstick to plot a course. Southeast from Sebastopol would take our supposed airship to the Zagros Mountains, the very place Hess said Schafer was bragging about. Its a long shot, but I strongly believe the Ahnenerbe is involved with a thorium and rare earth elements mining operation somewhere in those mountains. Sure-sure, the Germans were there in Iraq a while back to try and secure oil reserves and sea ports, but what if they werent the only commodity? Hess told me the Baghdad Museum was raided by an elite SS Ahnenerbe squad that stole Sumerian clay tablets and cylinder seals, and that reeks of Anunnaki science research. The Germans need tons of thorium and other exotic elements for