Hidden Behind A Mask of Disbelief
I climbed down from the tree and ran past my sister who was sitting on the front porch steps. As I ran past her, I pointed out the star and said, "Look—look at that star! What do you think that is?" I ran into the house to get my telescope to see what it was. The telescope was just on the other side of the big oak and stained glass door of my home. It only took me a moment but it was too late; I couldn't get my sights on it. So I stood and watched sadly as my star, the first and the brightest in the sky, skated over the western horizon.

I could see the arc of its course. It wasn't too far above me. In a low orbit, I would say. I pointed at the disappearing star and said to my sister, "There! Did you see that!  It was sitting right above me for the past three days and just now took off. What do you think that was?" She had seen it. She said, "I don't know, probably nothing. Just a Russian *satellite changing orbit or something like that; it's nothing to worry about. It's nothing at all."

* The technology she perceived was nonexistent in the 1960s. Furthermore, a huge Russian satellite, sitting over the 1960s American midwest, should have been an event of great concern.