Confirmation Bias(J.A. Lutz) For some the day was just beginning. For others it was winding down with dinner, slumber, and evening prayers. The year is 2019. The place is the planet Earth.

Day beginning or day ending is of no great importance. What is of the most significant importance however is the very first sonic boom ever recorded in human history that was heard by every living thing on earth with the capacity to hear even the faintest of sound.

The first reports from the United Citizens News Network -(UCNN) Were at first nothing more than a collection of talking heads arguing about the source of what was now quickly being referred to as 'The Global Thunder'. Within the first two hours of the anomaly every form of scientist was fiercely defending their version of what may have caused this sonic boom. There were no mushroom clouds, no significant concentrations of radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere, no super volcanic eruptions, and no major earthquakes that could explain 'TheGlobal Thunder'. As the next few hours passed, claims of U.F.O.s began to be called in to various t.v. stations around the globe, but none could be proven. There were hurried clandestine meetings of top military brass from the super power nations. Presidents and Prime Ministers quickly took to the airwaves to calm their countrymen, all were calling for peace and civility. Religious leaders of all major religions and variying denominations were calling for repentance and prayer.

The following day still no answers. Rumors filled every metropolis, city, town, village, home and mind.

It wasn't until the seventh day after 'The Global Thunder' that the discovery was made.

Samuel was at the front of the herd alongside his eldest son Micah. Goat herding had been an honored tradition in his family for close to two thousand years. Samuel's youngest son Shamel was tasked with pushing the far rear of the flock with the three sheep dogs, but Samuel nor Micah had seen Shamel since coming over the last hill.

Samuel stopped and whistled at Micah holding up one hand to indicate a break. It was a warm day in the Jezreel Valley near Megiddo.
As Micah approached his father he could see a look of great pride on his father's face. Micah took a long drink from the water bladder that was slung across his chest.
"Father, why have we stopped?" Micah asked somewhat breathless from his long drink.
"I haven't seen Shamel and the rest of the herd since we've come down from the mountain." Samuel said patiently, but with a twinge of anxiety.
"He's probably just watering the bushes papa."
Samuel agreed with a quick grin and light chuckle.
"Let's tighten the flock while we wait for him."
"Yes papa." Micah seldom argued his father's directions while herding.

As Shamel zipped his fly after the final shake he heard his three dogs growling and yelping. As he turned he could see the last of the goats beginning their cautious descent. The stragglers are the young and infirm, but none-the-less vital. Shamel had been reminded of how important even the oldest of goats were many times by his father and older brother.

The dogs were now in a barking frenzied state. "What now?" Shamel whispered to himself. Shamel jogged around a few boulders and shrubs, always looking down so not to trip, But trip is exactly what he did. In a confusing flash he had tripped over a yelping furry six legged - three headed beast. Quickly Shamel realized he had tripped over his dogs that were now freakishly hysterical.

When he looked up he was face to face with it.

It loomed tall over young Shamel. The semi-opaque crystal sarcophagus was rectangular in shape, but rounded in what could have made the corners. The sarcophagus was hovering only inches above the gravely ground.

Stunned and dumbfounded Shamel slowly stood up brushing the small bits of gravel from his knees and hands. Pain did not register. Stinging scrapes were unconsciously ignored as little freckles of blood started to form on the abrasions.

Nothing mattered in this moment except what his eyes saw and his brain could not understand. Shamel rubbed his eyes quickly, but what he was looking at did not disappear. The sarcophagus was as tall as three men. It was wide, like the refrigerator box he played in at home that his mother had thrown out. He could see something inside. Something. But there was an iridescent fog inside that seemed to move like turbulent monsoon clouds. For a brief second he thought he could almost make out the shape of a person, But not quite. A person? He felt a rapid flutter of panic in his stomach that was quickly replaced by excitement, And now a strangely familiar comfort. Then terror.

Shamel conjured every shred of bravery he possessed. Trembling, he reached out to touch it with his left hand, but heard a distant whistle that stole his attention.

PAPA! That's papa's whistle!

Shamel backed away and ran down the hill with careless abandon towards his father's beckoning whistles, and his brother's calling.

The news of Shamel's discovery broke quickly.

Megiddo, Israel, was now under military quarantine. UCNN was the only media service allowed to enter the quarantine site. The first images of the sarcophagus swept the globe within minutes of UCNN's arrival. The most brilliant scientific minds were showing up by the dozens every hour.
Religious dignitaries, anthropologists, archaeologists, physicists, and linguists of every nation were now arriving in droves. Armies in every nation were on high alert.

Border security at Israel's points of entry were heavily gaurded. A twenty acre security perimeter was quickly erected around the discovery site.

5 months have passed.

Speculation and rumors are on the tongues of every human.
Every military precaution has been taken within the Megiddo Quarantine Zone -(MQZ) - at the site of the sarcophagus. Every scientific measurement has been taken, analyzed and re-analyzed. Religious scholars now struggle to explain their various theories of what spiritual significance this should have for mankind.
Conspiracy theories changed faster than internet websites and news anchorman could keep up with.

Then there was a change.
A drastic change.

After months of no change, no movement, and no measurable difference the foggy white crystal sarcophagus went from semi-opaque to clear glass as fast as anyone could blink. More clear than the thinnest pane of polished window glass.

Reporters gasped on live television with slack jaw expressions. Scientists scrambled to keep up with their instruments, and measurements. Soldiers quickly took aim with rifles and tank canons. Generals and dignitaries called for quiet around the camp at the MQZ as if waiting to hear a deep dark secret from this perplexing alien object.

The irridescent boiling fog that filled the sarcophagus cleared faster than cameras could record. With a brilliant flash of light the shape of a person appeared inside the sarcophagus.
The reactions of those closest to this unnatural event set off a chain reaction that seemed to race the globe in less than an hour as pictures and video feeds circulated worldwide.
The eyes of mankind were now wide open to the beauty that was....

Christians saw the body of Christ, Muslims saw Mohammed, Catholics saw the Virgin Mary, Mormons saw Joseph Smith, Jews saw Moses, Taoists and Buddhists saw The Buddha, Hindus saw Vishnu, Satanists saw the Angel Lucifer, narcissists saw a beautiful reflection of themselves, and Atheists saw a beautiful series of fusion reactions in constant detailed fluctuation.
Every deity, God, Goddess, and even imaginary friend was seen according to each person's belief.
Every man, woman and child was convinced beyond any doubt that what they saw within the sarcophagus was the glorious beginning to a new era of promised paradise or the answer to the mysteries of the origins of the Universe.

People fainted. Some wept with glee. Some were terrified. Others became hysterical. But everyone that could see or hear of this development became fanatical zealots.

People began massive pilgrimages rendering national borders useless. Guards left their posts, adults walked off their jobs, children no longer attended schools, prisons could no longer contain the damned. Some fled the cities, but all abandoned every routine that they had ever had. Power plants were left unattended. Power grids began to fail. Shipments of goods completely stopped. Rioting broke out on a massive scale. Each person fought for the worship and supremacy of their chosen belief. Families were fighting each other. Neighbors were killing each other. Churches, Synagogues, Temples and all places of worship were under attack or protest by the devoted martyrs of opposing dogmas. Mass suicides were growing more common by the hour. Each nation state was breaking down in chaos, murder, looting, and starvation as people were hypnotized by the selfishness of their own salvation.

There were mercy killings of the young and old, suicide bombings, animal sacrifices, and human sacrifices were now becoming common in city centers. Military armaments were constantly changing hands from one fanatical sect to the next as people fought for any weapons they could control. Gun fire was a constant sound around the clock, as were the sounds of artillery bursts. Cities burned and crumbled. Forests were ablaze. Water ways, lakes, rivers, and beaches were polluted beyond recognition with all manner of man made trash, excrement, blood, and bloated decaying carcasses of indigenous animals and domesticated pets.

Then the short range missiles stopped streaking across the skies. War planes and attack helicopters that once filled the skies could no longer be seen or heard. Cries of people and beast alike were now common background noise.

Then the worst imaginable scenario mankind could lower themselves to began. Brilliant silver flashes of lite from thermonuclear warheads exploding started. Thousand of long range ballistic missiles crossed paths with vivid contrails in every direction. Fire filled the sky from North Pole to South Pole. From east to west fast rolling clouds of fire miles high swept across oceans, billowed over the highest mountain tops. Vast expanses of desert sand dunes were melted into deformed glass, rainforests crackled like water dripping in hot cooking oil, and every prairie and steppe were charred until hard and black like asphalt.

The Sun could no longer penetrate the dense clouds. Acid rains turned into howling blizzards. The mantle of the Earth's crust began to crack and split apart for thousands of miles on every continent and ocean floor. Tremendous amounts of magma now erupted violently from every new fissure in the shattering crust. Oceans and seas were now steaming and boiling. Enormous tsunamis crashed on every coastline with deafening violent percussion.

Seven hundred and seventy seven days have now passed since the arrival of the sarcophagus.
It remains hovering in the same place it was first discovered. Untouched, unscathed, unbroken and without the slightest of damage or scratch, it fills with iridescent fog once again.
The navigator of the sarcophagus receives a message that scrolls rapidly across the inside wall that reads: Status update required of second return to Populated Planet 129,664.42 located in galaxy Zeta-509378x

The navigator replies: Second return objective complete. Species has evolved as predicted. Peaceful cohabitation and homeostasis with host planet unsuccessful. They have destroyed every living organism. Life no longer sustainable for the foreseeable several millennia. Entropy of host planet's star will occur before expected return of anything living. This planet is dead. Request coordinates for next populated system.

Coordinates and a new mission now stream across the inside of the sarcophagus and read as follows:
Return visit to Planet 129,644.43³ - Galaxy 509378x9. Mission parameters remain the same, search for intelligent species capable of peaceful cohabitation and capable of maintaining homeostasis with host planet.

With new orders, the navigator was now readying her ship for flight.
In an instant and with a sonic boom the sarcophagus left the surface of another rapidly dying planet.

The navigator wondered if her species would ever find a universe like the one from which she came. Maybe, she thought. Hopefully. It had been nearly six million years since her last visit to her next destination. She wondered if the next mission would end the same as all her previous ones.

~~~ The End~~~
Written by: J.A. Lutz ©

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