Friday, May 11, 2001

An Alien Cinco de Mayo

Though there may not be a drop of Mexican blood among us, Cinco de Mayo was still a great excuse for a fiesta. It also helped that the 5th of the month fell on a Saturday -- at least for those who get the first Saturday of each month off. Basically that would mean all the non-meteorologists with the exception of a few scientists who have to check on experiments.

Saturday afternoon we had a barbecue in the garage. With hamburgers and Polish sausage, it wasn't exactly Mexican. I can't really say too much about it though, because I went to bed about the same time it started. I try to get a little sleep during the day because I am still working at night.

When I woke up around seven, phase two of the fiesta was just beginning. The main attraction of the late evening meal was the pig. It had been roasting all day. There are actually lots of pigs on station for cooking on special occasions. I thought it was delicious..

No one took the time to build a piñata or anything, so in keeping with our very un-Mexican Cinco de Mayo party, a group of us sat down to play Star Wars Monopoly.

Finally, Cherie surprised us all by making margaritas. Now this party was finally going to be a fiesta --either that or a margarita bacchanal. Eventually Jed took over the universe, but nothing got too out of hand.

On Sunday we had a very un-Mexican dinner of calzones made to order by Andrea and Meghan, but the not being Mexican part didn't matter because it was now Seis de Mayo. The meal was excellent. It is always nice when Poleys take the extra time to make special meals on Sunday when the cooks have the day off.

Art Bell's radio show was playing in the Galley most of the week. Someone had received several episodes over the Internet from a friend back in the U.S. We found the show so interesting primarily because it focused on us and the "mysterious string of events going on in Antarctica." There were no real claims of an actual government cover-up, but a lot of interesting theories and questions were posed.

For instance: Why was the mid-winter rescue so important this year when it had never happened before? Why did doc Ron have to leave against his wishes? Why did they tell doc Betty to fill her pockets with salt when she comes down here?

The only one of these questions that I think I know the answer to is the last one. We ran out of salt. Of course, I don't know why this happened. I just thought it was because of poor planning or an honest mistake of some kind. However, according to Art Bell's show, iodized salt is a good substitute for iodine to counter the effects of radiation poisoning. Could we all have been exposed to radiation? Or is it a code? In the Bible, Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt when she looked at something she shouldn't have. By asking Betty to have pockets full of salt (and thus be a "pillar" of it), were we trying to tell headquarters in a coded message that we had seen or done something that we weren't supposed to? Were we supposed to be saving those pigs for next summer?

The gist of the conspiracy theory is the U.S. government (or us, as government employees) has found some kind of alien or something on the continent and is trying to keep the discovery under wraps.

I admit there have been some strange things going on here and some undeniable facts may indeed point to a close encounter of the third kind.

Exhibit A: There was a McMurdo employee who was sent home this summer after warning of an invasion by flying saucers. I don't know the full story, but someone emailed us some pictures that were supposedly taken or created by the alien enthusiast back in December. Anyway, the plane did come and take him away. No one is denying that any of this happened.

Exhibit B: A recent discovery at a Russian station in inland Antarctica has been hailed as a potential scientific gold mine. Researchers determined that there is a lake of liquid water about 2 miles (3,300 meters) below the surface of Russia's Vostok station. This body of water has in theory been untouched for millions of years, and any living creatures found therein, however small, could provide clues to the origins of life itself. Of course this is just what we're told. We don't know what's really going on. Could they have discovered an ancient terrestrial or alien civilization in the depths of the polar ice cap? Is Antarctica really the fabled land of Atlantis, which slipped and fell under the globe, and was then covered in ice?

Sounds a bit like the movies "2001: A Space Odyessy," "The X-Files," or "The Thing." Speaking of which, why do we watch "The Thing" just after station close? Is it to lessen our uneasiness about the possibility of seeing aliens? Maybe there are flame-throwers on station and we just don't know about them yet!

Well, okay. So some of these interesting questions got a little out of hand. But hey, we're all stuck here for the long winter, and certainly take pleasure in a good yarn, especially about something so close to home, and so far from Mexico.