By early summer portents of the flood prediction had already made their appearance. It gradually becomes apparent, as one leafs through the messages of that period, that the teaching of Mrs. Keech and the schemes for interplanetary exchange of persons have behind them the rationale of averting or mitigating an expected universal disaster.
The earliest messages hint darkly of trouble ahead for the earth but they are vague in intent. On May 23, however, Sananda came right out and said: “We are planning to come in great numbers in the weeks ahead, as the war preparations are being formulated . . . [certain earth dwellers] will be gathered up and relieved of the experiences of the holocaust of the coming events.” The theme of war is adumbrated in a number of other messages during the late spring and early summer, and there are many references to the blessedness of harmony and peace, to the misery, futility, and madness of conflict. In several places, the Guardians promise Mrs. Keech that those who “instruct the people of Earth in slaughter” will meet a dark and awful justice soon, and warn: “the people of Earth are rushing, rushing toward the suicide of themselves. . . . To this we are answering with signs and wonders in the sky.” There are, however, no explicit references to the nature of the “holocaust” or to any specific catastrophe on the earth during May, June, or July. It is not until late August that the messages begin to warn her more directly of what is ahead for humanity.
There are many other interesting lessons in the collection — far more than we have space to cite. In part the contents reflect the events of Mrs. Keech’s daily life —the presence of guests and visitors in her home, the appearance of a new inquirer (for whom there is almost always praise and promise of great things to come), or the disappearance of a former disciple (usually with rueful comments from the Guardians on the difficulty of enlightening the people of the earth). There are messages of reassurance, of protection against “the dark forces” around her. There are fulminations against warmongers, scientists, nonbelievers, and materialists. And there are many, many messages of exhortation: to love thy neighbor; to “seek the light”; to cease thinking (“To think is of the second density” and “There is no advantage to thinking when we are studying the teaching of the Creator”) and “to be still of the five senses” so that there may be “direct knowing” or “inner knowing,” achieved by believing in the words of “the Father,” or “the Creator.” Above all she was urged to be patient, obedient, and faithful. These qualities were often put to severe tests.
From time to time the Guardians had given Mrs. Keech predictions of specific future events, such as the landing of flying saucers and visits by space people. She had also been issued a number of “orders” to carry out simple tasks or to go to certain places. Thus, in April, Sananda told her: “When you go to the lecture you will be contacted by a man from Langley Field. He has been on our planet for a brief stay. He will say to you: ‘You are early.’ That will be his sign to you that he knows you. He came through the atmosphere on a beam of light.” On another occasion she was “ordered” to go to a certain street corner in downtown Lake City, and she waited there for nearly an hour, wearying, although nothing unusual occurred. Several times she was promised saucer “sightings” at or near her home, but was disappointed. The strongest test of her convictions and her loyalty to her teachers, however, came as a result of a prediction she received late in July.
On the morning of July 23, Mrs. Keech’s pencil wrote this momentous message: “The cast of light you see in the southern sky is of our direction and is pulsating with a turning, spinning motion of the craft of the ‘tola’ [space ship] which is to land upon the planet in the cast of the day of August first—at the Lyons field. It will be as if the world was coming to an end at the field when the landing occurs. The operators will not believe their senses when they see the craft of outer space in the midst of the field.” This message concluded: “It is a very accurate cast that we give.”
In further communications, Mrs. Keech got word to be at Lyons field — a military air base — by noon in order to witness the landing. A number of her acquaintances learned of her plan, apparently through the offices of the friend who was currently typing copies of the lessons. Mrs. Keech subsequently made it plain that she had no intention of gathering a crowd for the occasion, yet she evidently did not regard her mission as a secret one. “I didn’t want to start a traffic jam by telling anybody that there was going to be a landing at Lyons field on August the first, because I knew that if all the saucer enthusiasts got on the highway to see the saucers there would be a jam. So I wasn’t going to say anything about it.” But the news leaked out and several people asked if they might join the expedition or meet her at the field. Dr. Armstrong and his wife were in Lake City at the time, as weekend guests of Mrs. Keech, and asked if they might accompany her. The three of them reached the field just before noon.
Near the main gate of the field, the Armstrongs and Mrs. Keech were joined by another car or two of acquaintances, and the whole group sought out a lightly traveled road that bordered the field. Selecting a place that offered a good view of the runways and the sky, they parked and prepared to wait. “We didn’t know what we were looking for; we were looking for saucers,” Mrs. Keech once said, in describing the incident. “As we stood there eating our lunch from the back of the car, just standing in the fields alongside the road and looking up at the sky through our polaroid pieces that we had brought with us, we must have looked very silly to the ones who didn’t sit around the table [outsiders, or those who did not share the feast of knowledge provided by the Guardians].”
Suddenly Mrs. Keech became aware that an unknown man had approached the party. Although the road was long and straight and the fields bordering it offered neither cover nor concealment, she had not seen him walking toward them; it was as if he had materialized out of thin air. He crossed the highway toward the group and, as he drew nearer, she sensed something strange, almost eerie in his appearance and manner. She recalls a somewhat strange “look in his eye” and a curiously rigid bearing.
One of the ladies in the party was alarmed, and urged Mrs. Keech to “be careful; that man is crazy.” But, instead of fear, Mrs. Keech felt only curiosity and sympathy for the stranger on this hot, dry road far from comfort or refreshment. From the back of her car she got a sandwich and a glass of fruit juice, and offered them to him, but he declined, slowly and politely.
“I couldn’t imagine anybody that time of day on a lonely highway not wanting a cold drink. I asked him again, but he just said: ‘No thank you.’ I looked at his eyes — eyes that looked through my soul—and the words sent electric currents to my feet. Yet I wasn’t on the beam. As we stood there looking in the sky for saucers, he would look up and then he would look at us, at me especially. After I had offered him food, he turned and walked away. I felt very sad. I didn’t know why at the time. I thought ‘what can I give him to eat? What else have we got that I can give him?’ I turned to my car [to get a slice of watermelon] which was about twenty feet away. As I reached it, I looked back and he was gone —just gone. He was no place to be seen. And I felt, I became — oh I can’t tell you; there’s no word for it. I knew something was going on that I didn’t understand. I knew I was close to something.”
The remainder of the vigil was uneventful. No saucers landed at Lyons field in the next two hours and an air of disappointment pervaded the assembly. Mrs. Keech was grave. “I thought to myself: That message did come through my hand. I am more or less responsible if I have misled anyone today.” And she prayed for guidance. The group dispersed, and, when she was again alone with the Armstrongs and another friend, she began to probe their collective feelings: “I said: ‘Well, what do you people feel?’ Everyone agreed that something had happened on the roadside, but we didn’t know what it was or how to explain it.