Ever since my youth, this Surgeons of Horror reporter has had a growing fascination with life beyond this planet.
Does it exist? What lies beyond the stars?
So compelled was I to find out the answer to one of life’s eternal conundrum’s that I almost willed something to happen.

This one time, my parents were driving along the freeway in the United States, (where else?) in a hired convertible.
It was late and my eyes were drawn to the heavens above.
As I rested my head on the back seat, my eyes began to scan the skyline, casting across from one star to the next.
I became immersed in its sheer enormity. Out there on the open road, I felt insignificantly small and this notion that surely we can’t be alone in the universe crept across my mind.
What started off as an idle admiration of the stars and all its infinite glory suddenly became a futile desire to look beyond the shining lights in the sky to search for anything out of the ordinary.
An anomaly that didn’t naturally belong in the sky. If life did exist out there, now was the chance for it reveal itself to me.
Why me of all people you could ask?
Well this 7 year old boy didn’t think beyond the realms of his own sphere, which is ironic considering I was now willing, nay praying for signs of life beyond.
It seemed as though hours had past, when in reality it was probably only a few minutes, but finally something odd did occur.
A green light flashed before me high into the night sky and hovered momentarily for a few seconds before instantaneously propelling itself upwards and out of my field of vision.
To this day, I’m not entirely sure if I dreamt that moment. Was it real? Or had I drifted off to sleep in the back of the car, and let my imagination run wild in the eases of my mind? Either way, that moment hung with me over the years.

It was only a few years later, where my fascination was sparked once more, primarily due to watching numerous episodes of The X-Files and watching Mulder and Scully scamper around trying to seek the truth.
This led me on my own search, as I had learned of something known as The Blue Mountains Triangle.
Allegedly, there is an underground military base located in the heart of the Blue Mountains, somewhere in the Burragong region.
This base, which supposedly is co run by both Australian and the U.S. is probably best described as Australia’s own Area 51; a place where the military have been studying and experimenting with UFOs and UFO sightings.
Again without any basis of truth or facts to steer my investigation, I ventured out to uncover if there was anything to these so-called stories.
I took the long drive out to the Lake Burragong lookout and set up camp for the night. Surely now I could find more proof?
There had been numerous sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects over the Blue Mountains skyline and I couldn’t see how I wouldn’t be one of the lucky few to witness such an awe inspiring moment; a moment that would connect me with the universe.

From what I remember, it was a bitterly cold night. My insane mission would lead me from the shelter of a nice warm house, to sitting in the middle of nowhere at the height of winter.
Yes logic had been lost on me and my only goal was to find proof of existence. I sat there willing and praying as I had done before.
Hours passed and then all became foggy and darkness settled once more.

The next thing that I recall, there was a loud tapping on my car window, which shook me back to reality.
The car had steamed up, so I had to wind the window down, where upon I was greeted by a Park Ranger, wondering what I was up to.
I tried to explain to him my reasoning’s and even quizzed him if he had ever witnessed anything unusual whilst working out here, but all I received from him was an expression of strangeness, as though he had pigeonholed me into a group of crazies, and the only thing unusual was my intent on proving something that simply didn’t exist.

I drove off, as dawn was finally breaking, with a sense of disheartenment. Not knowing if I would ever find the answer to my quest, whilst also knowing that I would be greeted at times with that same odd expression from people whenever I would try to pursue this further.
Over the years though, I learnt that I wasn’t alone. At least not in my search for Extra-Terrestrial life. There were others like me.
Admittedly some had strange and wild tales that were hard to believe, and yet there were also others that were detailed studies into this field.
There were scientists and all manners of experts that were leaping into the same quest that I had set out for all those years ago.
And as humanity makes advances in technology, so comes the greater chance of finding life beyond this planet.
Thankfully now, I don’t have to venture out into the dead of a cold winter night to carry out my quest as I can leave the professionals to it.

– Anonymous