A Great Light Shines [jay]

(adapted from War of the Worlds by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre)

30 October 1938: a cataclysmic event took place in the minds and imaginations of Americans. Civilization ended, humanity fell from the precipice upon which it had perched itself. The terror felt in the hearts and minds of Americans on this day was one imagined and set upon them by what should have been illogical and nonsensical, but it is amazing what can happen when that which should not happen magically does happen. Logic ceases to be logical, nonsense becomes normal and fear of what may become, becomes -- and hope that was lifeless is resurrected.


Orson: We know now that from its conception the world was being watched closely by an Intelligence greater than mankind's and yet incarnationally as mortal as his own. We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small spinning fragment of solar driftwood, which design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space. Yet across an immense ethereal gulf, a Mind that is to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle – an Intellect vast, deep and sympathetic -- regarded this earth with eyes and ears and slowly and surely drew His plans for us. In the tenth year of the twenty first century came the great disillusionment. [It was] near the beginning of April. Business was better. The war scare was over. More people were back at work. Sales were picking up. On this particular morning, April 4, the Crosley service estimated that 250 people were listening in on radios.


Announcer: (nasal and non-emotional, speaking quickly and clearly) Ladies and Gentlemen, the Corporate Broadcasting System has received reports regarding seismic activities up and down the Eastern seaboard. Apparently, tectonic plates have been shifting, causing disturbances in the earth’s crust that are visible even on its surface. This earth-shifting would typically be interpreted by the scientific community as simply an earthquake, but apparently, this is no ordinary earthquake.
To explain to us the observation of this strange spectacle, we go now to Philip Carl, professor of Geology at Princeton University, who is in the field in Hoboken, New Jersey at the Greenfield Memorial Cemetery.

Announcer: Thank you Dr Carl, for taking time out of your busy day to inform us.

Dr Carl: (upper middle class British accent – scholarly, calculated and calm in all things) My pleasure, sir.

Announcer: Dr Carl, please describe to us what you are seeing.

Dr Carl: Well sir, in twenty-nine years of geologic experience specializing in tectonics and earthquakes, I have never seen the likes of what has transpired before me. Typically in an earthquake, fault lines cause appearances in the earth’s surface that correspond to the fault line. The shifting of the tectonic plates under the earth’s crust make for a tearing, as it were, that with proper bird’s eye perspective would look like a long tear in a piece of fabric.
In this particular case though, sir, I am witnessing no such tear. Rather, the plates have shifted in such a way as to cause a patchwork of sorts in the ground before me. I stand at the edge of a dramatic 500 acre cemetery and the whole landscape before me is dotted with openings in the ground in seemingly totally random fashion. There most certainly was a shaking, I could feel the tremors at my office in Princeton. But the results of that shaking are phenomena the like of which I have not experienced in three decades of geology.

Announcer: Dr Carl, does that section of New Jersey experience much seismic activity?

Dr Carl: Actually, no. Hoboken has never experienced a tremor of great enough magnitude to even be classified an earthquake. It does not sit near a fault line of any kind. This is a truly unique occurrence. As I walk through this place, speaking to you on my mobile phone, I am observing small openings and large openings. Some as small as one grave, others as large as five to eight graves. Most are shallow, no more than six feet in depth. I can make out coffins, though for those coffins that were twisted, broken and/or opened by the quake, I strangely see no sarcophagus remains.

Announcer: Dr Carl, thank you for your summation.

Announcer: We now head to Eugene, Oregon for another astounding report from the scientific community. Dr Justin Wilmuth, head of psychology at University of Oregon Hospital has agreed to communicate with us regarding another strange happening on America’s west coast.

Announcer: Greetings, Dr Wilmuth.

Dr Wilmuth: (deep booming voice, a highly capable and confident man, never easily shaken) Hello, sir.

Announcer: Dr Wilmuth, please tell us your experience of the last few hours.

Dr Wilmuth: Well, sir – hardly had I begun my morning rounds when I was overtaken by a patient -- a young woman -- shouting uncontrollably. Again and again she was screaming, “There is hope! There is hope! There is hope!.” Always three times, always almost hysterically. She would then pause, take a few breaths, look out the window and shout it again. It began to become infectious…patients all over the floor began meandering out of their rooms to see what was going on. She would simply scream at them, “There is hope! There is hope! There is hope!” and point at the window. Before I knew it, addicts, schizophrenics, manic depressives, recovering offenders…all were screaming, “There is hope! There is hope! There is hope!”

I was about to direct the staff to get as many restraints as possible and get to work with proper sedatives, when I saw my chief of staff staring out the window with her mouth open. She was beginning to drool.

Now sir, I hesitate to continue with my testimony, but for posterity’s and science’s sake, I must.

As I joined her at the window, my eyes were drawn the direction of her gaze. Just over the top of the city skyline, a golden crest was appearing. This crest is the brightest, most captivating thing I have ever seen. It should hurt my eyes to look at it, but it does not. Nor can I look away. The city beneath us has come to a full stop. People are walking and staring at the sky as if in a zombie-like state. Quiet has taken us over but for the random screams of hope. As I speak to you now, I have not moved from this window for over two hours nor averted my gaze from the crest.

Announcer: (suddenly concerned) Dr Wilmuth, sir, are you not in danger? The patients – are they not in need of your care?

Dr Wilmuth: Why sir, would they need my care? They have seen hope.

[the line goes dead]

Announcer: Dr Wilmuth…Dr Wilmuth… Sorry friends, it appears we have lost connection to our psychological expert, Dr Wilmuth, our contact in Eugene, Oregon at the University of Oregon Hospital. We will see if we can re-establish that connection at some point in the near future.

Announcer: Now, let’s return to the Greenfield Memorial Cemetery in Hoboken, New Jersey. Professor of Geology at Princeton, Dr Philip Carl, is on the scene there.

Announcer: Dr Carl, what is the latest?

Dr Carl: (puzzled and a bit distant) Well sir, I wish I had a good explanation of what it is I may tell you. Rather, I am beholden to simply give you the information.

Dr Carl: I have recently been joined by Dr Pierce Sun of the Stevens Institute of Technology here in Hoboken for a survey of the geological data regarding today’s earthquake. I make note of Dr Sun’s presence as a bit of credibility toward this data that I am about to relate.

Dr Carl: As Dr Sun and I were walking among the openings in the earth we began to note a pattern in the seemingly random fractures of the earth’s surface. Each place of opening was softly glowing from various points in its crater. At first, we agreed it was quartz in the earth’s crust that was playing with the morning light. Thing is, the more we continued to observe, the brighter the light became. We recognized that it was not random light; it was directed and piercing. This was not magma from an underground volcano or anything of the like. And now, as I speak to you, we are standing among beams of light streaming to the heavens from every hole in this cemetery. It is as though we are in a pincushion of the most brilliant, beautiful light I have ever seen. I am entranced by it. I feel both alive and dead at the same time, time is standing still and I find myself enraptured beyond words. My heart is on fire.

Announcer: (frantically) You are on fire, Dr Carl? Should you not leave the area? Get to a safer place?

Dr Carl: Leave, sir? Why would I ever want to leave? I am warmed and delighted to be here. Hopeful, even. Dr Sun has adopted a kneeling position in one of the openings under a sugar maple near to us. I believe I’ll join him…

[the line goes dead]

Announcer: (desperately) Dr Carl? Dr Carl?

Announcer: (beginning to feel the experience himself) My apologies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we appear to have lost Dr Carl to a state of ethereal worship. Strangely though, the Corporate Broadcasting System has begun to receive reports from all around the world regarding this strange quaking, often along lines in the earth that seem to have been previously undisturbed for centuries. From New Jersey to Brazil to France, people are witnessing beams of light streaming with great magnitude from random holes in the ground up to the heavens. Moscow, Beijing, Singapore, Melbourne and Honolulu all report the same brilliant crest in the sky that was testified to by Dr Wilmuth, capturing the attention of millions and millions, bringing traffic to a halt in major cities. Industrial sites, vacation resorts, office buildings, hospitals, churches, shopping centers – all have ground to a halt as people everywhere are enraptured and joyfully at peace with one another, observing the light from the sky and the light from the land as they meet together in the heavens.

Announcer: (back to business) To analyze the psychological response of humans everywhere, we return to Dr Wilmuth, head of psychology at the University of Oregon Hospital in Eugene, Oregon. Dr Wilmuth, can you hear me now?

Ms Welles: (soft-spoken and kind) Greetings, sir. This is Ms Welles, Dr Wilmuth’s chief of staff. I’m sorry sir, but Dr Wilmuth is unavailable at the moment.

Announcer: (wanting to sound impressive) Oh, I’m certain Ms Welles. Surely attending to all those patients and now everyone else who is psychologically struggling at this time must be taxing his efforts, and yours as well.

Ms Welles: Actually sir, we’re standing at the same window as before.

Announcer: You mean you’re with Dr Wilmuth?

Ms Welles: Yes, sir. But like I said, he’s unavailable.

Announcer: Understood, madam. But is he all right?

Ms Welles: Oh, yes sir. I am sure he’s never been better. He’s even beginning to drool.

[long pause]

Ms Welles: (as though the phone is away from her ear) What’s that, Dr Wilmuth? One more time… Once more…

Ms Welles: Sir, Dr Wilmuth is gently motioning for the phone. He’s begun to mutter something…I can’t make it out.

Announcer: (elated that someone finally wants to help him) Please, Ms Welles, if there is any way we can talk with Dr Wilmuth, we would so appreciate it.

Ms Welles: OK, I can put the phone up to his ear.

Announcer: (excitedly grateful) Thank you, Ms Welles. Dr Wilmuth, Dr Wilmuth…are you there Dr Wilmuth?

[even longer pause]

Announcer: (exasperated and frustrated) Drat! Have we lost our connection again?

Dr Wilmuth: (unintelligibly whisphering) tha…iz…ooh

Announcer: (business-like) I’m sorry Dr Wilmuth, our connection must be bad…what was that?

Dr Wilmuth: (still unintelligible and whispering) thar…izz…hoe

Announcer: (patiently prodding) One more time, please, Dr Wilmuth.

Dr Wilmuth: (muttering, whispering louder) thuer…iss…hoa

Dr Wilmuth: [increasing in understandability] Thar…i…hoe. Thare izs hop. There iz hoape.

Announcer: (frantically taking charge of the situation) Please, Dr Wilmuth, people everywhere are dying for an answer to what is happening out there. Please, please, please could you gather yourself and speak clearly what you are trying to say?

[long pause, breathing heavily and rapid]

Dr Wilmuth: (shouting as loud as possible) There is hope! There is hope! There is hope!