incident i is set four quadrillion years ago, wherein an unsuspecting thetan was subjected to a loud snapping noise, followed by a flood of luminescence, then saw a chariot followed by a trumpeting cherub. after a loud set of snaps, the thetan was overwhelmed by darkness. this is described as the implant opening the gateway to the present universe, separating thetans from their "static" (natural/godlike) state. the incident is described in operating thetan level iii (ot iii), written in 1967.