Truly, such an act of mutual insight and courage would be communion... two universes spinning each other together... the old weaver of reality rethreading creation's loom. Who knows, maybe really skilled observation and genuine insight will cause the visitors to come bursting to the surface shaking like coelacanths in a net.

Something is here, be it a message from the stars or from the booming labyrinth of the mind... or from both. It must have left a signature somewhere, a thread in the snow, the scratch of a strange nail upon a wall. And we can certainly find that thread, if we bring humor and honesty and courage — and great care — to the effort. In taking the thread we might find ourselves in possession of a very real key to the universe. In any case accepting that. the visitor experience is not a false unknown will relieve a lot of suffering.

Once the thread is in hand, our own mythology will tell us where it leads. for it will be the same thread that the maiden Ariadne handed to Theseus when he stood before the maze of the Minotaur, voting and strong and mad with courage.

And we will all o down the labyrinth, to meet whatever awaits us here.

APPENDIX I

A Statement from Donald F. Klein, MD

I have examined Whitley Strieber and found that he is not suffering from a psychosis. He is not hallucinating in a manner characteristic of psychosis. I also see no evidence of an anxiety state, mood disorder, or personality disorder. He is an excellent hypnotic subject, who appeared to make an honest attempt while under hypnosis to describe what he remembered.

He has approached the dilemma of what is happening to him in a careful and forthright way and has pursued his investigation with diligence. After an initial period of stress, he became much more calm about his situation and soon learned to deal with it in a psychologically healthy way. He appears to me to have adapted very well to life at a high level of uncertainty.

—DONALD F. KLEIN, MD

Director of Research

New York State Psychiatric Institute

APPENDIX II

Polygraph Results

On October 31. 1986, I was polygraphed by Ned Laurendi, president of the Society of Professional investigators and vice-president of the Empire State Polygraph Society. He has been a polygraph operator for twenty-five years. He was paid in the normal course of business before the polygraph was undertaken, and was not familiar with me before the test.

I was aware of the controversial nature of polygraphic results, and so determined to add a test of Mr. Laurendi's effectiveness to the process. Without telling him, I lied in my answers to control questions thirteen and sixteen. In both cases, he detected the lie correctly. His ability to do this — along with his leading position in his field — has convinced me that, despite the controversies surrounding lie detection in general, he is very skilled indeed.