text: Completely rewritten... When the emergency broadcast system cuts into local programming, the first words on the screen reassure us that this is merely a test. It started late afternoon on a seemingly normal day - people walking their dogs, others jogging and the occasional car horn followed by someone yelling. I think it was about 4 o’clock when I saw the first message. It read as a rather vague indication that something wasn’t right: “This is not a test--I repeat--this is not a test. The National Guard has initiated a state of emergency. You are advised to remain in your homes. Do not attempt to leave the area. Further instructions will be given shortly. Again, this is not a test.” “State of emergency?” I thought to myself. I’ve always kept a pair of binoculars on my window sill, I guess for when I get bored and want to take a peek into the lives of others. When gazing, I noticed that the people outside weren’t in their typical state of constant motion, but rather looking up at something. Some were pointing, some were slack jawed and some even crying. Something was in the sky. Something that didn’t belong. Something that most of us refused to believe existed. I scanned the sky to find a round, featureless “ball”, for lack of a better word. It looked to just be hanging there with no movement. I was stuck, never have I seen anything so striking yet simple. Shortly after the awe struck pedestrians snapped out of their trance, military vehicles began patrolling the maze of side streets outside of my apartment. I still don’t know what the soldiers were blasting through their megaphones as I live on the 10th floor of my building, but the streets quickly cleared. With no answers on TV, and with the military shooing people from the streets, all I could do was hope things would settle by morning. “The United States government has issued martial law. Please do not attempt to leave your homes; your safety is our number one priority.” I woke up to that. Imagine being awakened by a firm voice with such a cryptic message in the most dead pan delivery possible. I had to get some answers at this point so I threw on some shorts and shoes and headed down to the lobby. That’s when I saw the two pale faced soldiers standing just outside of the revolving doors of my building. One of them faced inside and the other was looking up in the direction of that thing in the sky. They were dressed in fatigues, the digital camouflage type you’d see in an urban environment. When I pushed the door to walk out, the soldier facing inward used his foot to block the door from spinning. “What’s the deal?” I asked him. “Better if you stayed put.” He replied. “Why are you here?” “Orders.” I had to choice but to stay put. I wasn’t going to barge through or demand he let me pass. “They must be here for a reason,” I thought. But the reality was that they were just as clueless as the rest of us. I know that now. It was then I figured that I’d stay at my window and witness whatever it was that was going to happen. Binoculars in hand, I trained my view to the object in the sky, which was now giving off an orange colored hue. I think I realize now that this was probably heat, since the clouds around it dissipated. Down below, the military activity has increased as there were now large vehicles equipped with surface to air missiles. Some people that were standing on the sidewalks were immediately wrangled up by the nearby soldiers and placed into the back of a cargo truck. The vehicle with the missiles took aim toward the sky and let loose a flurry. I had a feeling of giddiness but that was quickly squashed as the missiles simply froze in front of the object, and tumbled toward the ground. A few huge explosions echoed from the impact. People were probably killed. The entire object began to glow in a brilliant orange, as if a small sun, but it didn’t hurt like staring at the sun. The vehicle on the ground had a small crew resetting the weapon when suddenly a beam engulfed the area of the crew, vehicle and cargo truck which held the pedestrians. When the beam subsided, a perfect circular shape was scorched into the ground, with no remnants of what was once there. The silence was broken by the screams of other people that wandered into the streets and tires from various military vehicles screeching on the asphalt. The familiar screams of fighter jets filled the skies and began circling the object, which gave scale to its size - incredibly huge. The jets looked like tiny specs as they passed in front of it. One by one, the jets fired at it, over and over, all resulting in direct hits. After expelling their munitions, the jets absquatulated. The object began to fall. The massiveness becoming more apparent as it approached the ground. It crashed in the distance like something out of a disaster movie. The impact caused an eruption of earth and completely decimated that part of the city. It took a moment before the shockwave hit, but when it did, my apartment building rumbled so hard that it knocked me off my feet, causing me to hit my head against a table. When I came to, it was sometime in the middle of the night. Regaining my composure I looked out to see smoke and dust filling the horizon. Numerous helicopters were circling the crash site, shining their spotlights down as the destruction. Still feeling woozy, I lay on my bed and tried to sleep it off. It’s morning. The sunlight is doing little for my headache. I stand up and my head starts to pound. My watch reads midnight, why is it so bright out? I look through my window to find more of these objects. This time the sky is filled with them, all glowing like little suns. “This is not a test--I repeat--this is not a test. The National Guard has initiated a state of emergency. You are advised to remain in your homes. Do not attempt to leave the area. Further instructions will be given shortly. Again, this is not a test.