Claudia Newell always went out into the desert to write in her diary or journal, as she liked to call it. At 15 years old, she was a serious teen who already had high goals for herself. She knew what she wanted to do when she got older and how she was going to accomplish it. She liked having a plan.

It was a hot night. She took a sip of water from her canteen and stretched out on the blanket with her flashlight and journal. She was enjoying the peace and tranquility on this July 3rd night.

After writing her thoughts for a few minutes, Claudia put down her journal and just looked up at the stars. It was so bright tonight. So different from the storm of last night.

Suddenly she thought she heard a moan and a scraping sound. Claudia froze and listened carefully. Out in the desert sound traveled and she wanted to figure out in which direction she had just heard the noise. There was no wind so she couldn't blame it on that.

When she heard it again she turned her head in the direction she thought it was coming from, and slowly got to her feet and waited. Her eyes and ears were now straining to a clump of brush about 200 feet away.

When she heard the moan again, she thought she saw the brush sway a little and she swallowed. Fear was her first emotion. It didn't sound like an animal. It sounded like a human moan.

That made her move. If a human was somehow injured out here, she had to help! Cautiously Claudia turned on her flashlight and staying still far enough away from the brush to feel safe, she shone the light on the area in question.

"Hello?" She whispered. "Is somebody out there? Are you hurt?"

"Hurt. Yes. Help please." She heard in her mind.

That was all she needed to go the few more feet and move aside the brush.

When the flashlight caught upon the figure Claudia froze and gasped. She blinked several times to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing and then she started to back up, her feet feeling like lead from her fear of the unknown.

If she hadn't been so terrified, she thought later, she would have run screaming and maybe not come back. But it was her fear that kept her there long enough to see the small creature reach out a strange looking hand and beg with his eyes for help once more.

Claudia had a soft spot for any wounded souls, and this one was crying out to her and looking helpless.

Later she was amazed that the totally bizarre looks of the creature hadn't sent her running. But at the time, it was like he was drawing her to him with his pleas for help and his huge, soulful eyes.

She didn't even realize until later that the alien didn't have a mouth and was communicating to her through her thoughts.

Lying on her bed later that night, shivering from the after affects of all she had seen and done, Claudia was amazed and overwhelmed.

She had found out that the small creature's craft had crashed the day before and that he was injured quite badly. He had trusted her because he was desperate and he had been watching her and had felt she had a good soul.

She knew that if it had been for himself, the little creature would never have made it so far or let himself be known to her. But it was for the tiny fetuses in the pods that he had risked getting caught.

Somehow he had convinced Claudia to help him back to where five pods were waiting in a row. He must have gotten them that far, because if their craft had crashed the pods would not have been so neatly lined up.

She had then helped the wounded creature drag the delicate pods carrying the fetuses into a cave not too far from them. It was so well hidden that Claudia, who had spent many a years in the desert, had not noticed the out jut of rocks that led to a small underground cave like area.

She wondered later if the alien had created it himself but she never knew for sure. After they had gotten the pods to safety, the little creature had made her help him get as far away from the pods as he could. Claudia had her dad's old truck and even though she wasn't supposed to drive without a licensed driver, she often took the old truck out into the desert not far from her home at night.

After she had helped him to lie down several miles from where they had hidden the pods, he had given her a book and told her a bizarre story that sounded like a fairytale of some sort.

The book was written in English and in another language that she had never seen before, but that sort of looked like Chinese or ancient hieroglyphics. The English was in translation below the other language and all of it was carved into the strange material that was neither metal nor wood or paper. It was made of something she'd never seen before.

He made her promise to keep it safely hidden and had asked her to keep watch over the pods. He told her that they wouldn't mature or hatch for another 42 years but it was critical that they were kept safe and hidden. And he was terribly worried about one of the pods that seemed slightly damaged in the crash. He kept telling her that the queen's damaged pod needed to be watched carefully. That it was very important that nothing happen to it.

Claudia realized when looking back, that this alien must have been very desperate to trust a young girl with the responsibility that would span over 40 years.

But she had given her promise and taken the book, and asked if she could do anything for him. He had waved her away; saying that he couldn't be helped and he wanted to die knowing the pods would be looked after.

And he wanted her to be as far away from him as possible when he was found. He had known he would be, and didn't want her to be associated with any of the events.

Later she heard about the crash site that was discovered only hours after she had helped the little creature. That a local sheep farmer Mac Brazel and his young 7 year old neighbor had come across the crash site on his land.

After that it became the biggest story around for years and years. And Claudia followed all of it with great interest and didn't tell a soul what she had seen and done that night, July 3rd 1947.

She had cried when she heard the stories about alien bodies found and autopsied and all the rumors and speculations that were running around. She hoped that the little alien had already been dead when the military had found him.

She watched as the military completely set about covering up the whole incident and she was at first shocked and then accepting of the fact that her own government was keeping things from the public.

Her one time thought to join the military when she was old enough, and to travel the world that way, was destroyed that week in 1947.

Claudia instead became an archeologist and writer. She traveled the world and wrote about old ancient civilizations and burial sites. She followed the stories of lost civilizations and the theories of how some of them might have been old alien civilizations or locations of sightings.

Over the years her books became well known as did her archeological knowledge and accomplishments. And in all those years of traveling, she would continually come back to Roswell to check on the precious, entrusted pods as she had promised.

Thirty six years later...

October 1983

Claudia Newell Parker didn't know what had woken her, but once she was up she knew she had to get to the pods.

She was visiting her son and daughter in law in Roswell after having finished another dig in Mexico the week before.

Having her son live in Roswell, New Mexico was a stroke of luck for Claudia. Now she always had an excuse for coming to Roswell to check on the pods.

Life had not been easy for the once young girl. She had married and actually settled down for several years in Roswell herself, and had had her one and only child there as well. But after her husband had died of Cancer 10 years ago, she had gone back to traveling and writing.

In all the years of marriage, she had never shared her secret with her husband. She had never shared the secret with anyone. Ever.

But on this night, that would all change.

She quickly dressed, as the urgency to see the pods became greater. She slipped out of the house so as not to disturb her son or his wife, and quietly made her way out to the well traveled path she knew would take her to the cave.

When she entered the well-hidden cave, she turned on the flashlight and made her way into the chamber that held the glowing pods.

At first everything looked like it always did. Just as it should, until 1989 sometime, her alien friend had told her.

But when she looked closer she saw the one pod that held the 'queen' had a now much larger crack and she gasped and brought her hand to her chest.

Over the years she had become just as protective of the little pods as her alien friend had been. The thought of something happening to one of them, and the 'baby queen' especially, was devastating.

Claudia stayed the night, monitoring the pod that not only seemed to have developed a larger break, but was now glowing erratically.

By morning she was staring frighteningly down at a small infant that looked human. She had known it would, from what the little alien had told her all those years ago, but it frightened her to realize that this little pod was early. It was not supposed to hatch for another 6 years! And what was she supposed to do with an infant?

She had been frightened enough at the thought of dealing with 5 six year olds in the coming years, but now to find herself with an infant, and not knowing what would happen since it had hatched prematurely, she was terrified.

It wasn't until almost 10 hours later that she came to her decision, and brought the infant back into Roswell with her.

She glanced at the small bundled little girl and prayed that her son and daughter in law would listen to what she had to tell them, and take the tiny girl into their home and hearts.

She was betting they would because they had been so desperately trying to have children and had recently been told they couldn't.

She only prayed that when she told them the truth about the infant, that they would still want the small bundle that was only half-human.