Mr. Ben: “Hello everyone! Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving 2017! My family and I went to Utah . . . and we brought 3 esteemed friends with us. The Earthnauts Union, Sneak, and Oceana! Today we’re taking our inquisitive little friends to a couple places in Ogden, Utah . . . the Hill Aerospace Museum (at Hill Air Force Base) and the old Union Train Station!”
Union: “Union? Did you say my name, Mr. Ben?”
Mr. Ben: “Uh, no Union. Oh . . . Union’s the name of the train station!”
Union: “Well I must see this place . . . but first we’re here first off at Hill Air Museum! And I’m here with my Best Friend Sneak and his lovely younger sister Oceana!”
Sneak: “Ha ha! You don’t want to say ‘Little Sister”, because I’m the older one but I could fit inside her space helmet!”
Oceana: “Oh, Big Brother! Don’t feel bad! You’re a wonderful man and strong and tough as any Engedian as tall as Nomad the Grand Elder . . . and brave, kind, smart, and wonderful like . . . uh . . . just like Union!”.
Union: “Thank you Oceana, you’re very kind and splendid yourself . . . uh . . . anyway <chuckling>, let’s look around the Museum!”
Union: “The Hill Air Museum is in the Human settlement / colony town of Ogden in the box-shaped land called Utah! It has many airplanes that have served at the nearby Hill Air Force Base.”
Sneak: “Oooooh!!! Is this where the students from the Air Force Academy that you, I and Echo visited 5 months ago?”
Oceana: “Yes it is! I heard from Mr. Ben that only 1 in 4 officers actually go to that academy, and that the other officers actually come from regular or military colleges across Mr. Ben’s country America!”
Union: “Yes. As an example, I didn’t attend the Engedian Star Force Academy until later when Professor Lagrange and the Grand Elder permitted me to enter due to my advanced training!”
Oceana: “That’s because you’re so smart! And you were SO brave when you fought against an entire fleet of Agagans to save those Engedian children who were about to become their slaves.”
Union: “Oh . . . It was nothing really! I’m just glad the Imm Leader gave me the strength. Speaking of strength, Hill Museum has many aircraft that the Air Force has used and is still using today. The silver propeller plane is called a B-29 Superfortress. Two of them I hear dropped powerful weapons on an enemy of Mr. Ben’s land which helped stop a war.”
Sneak: “Ooooh . . . See the silver Jet Plane to the right? That’s a B-47 Stratojet! It was Mr. Ben’s country’s first Jet Bomber. It was built to do the same thing as a B-29 only faster and farther!”
Oceana: “See the green plane with white nose? That’s a B-52 Stratofortress. It replaced both the B-29 and B-47 and it’s has been used for over 65 Earth-Sun revolutions (or 65 Earth Years)!”
Union: “Yes! That is long for an Earth aircraft! Finally the green plane to the right is a B-1 Lancer which can go 2 times faster than the speed of Earth sound . . . or Mach 2!!! All of these airplanes were built to defend innocent people from selfish ones who would enslave or kill them. They all can carry those powerful bombs called Nuclear Weapons.”
Sneak: “On Mr. Ben’s computer, I read that the Human’s nuclear weapons are sort of like the Star-Builder devices we build . . . but ours created fusion reactions to build new stars! I’ve built over 200 stars the size of Earth’s sun or greater thus far with Star-Builders.”
Oceana: “And I have too, Big Brother! It’s better to build peacefully than destroy in war!”
Union: “Well, we’re inside the museum now. I’m standing next to a P-51 Mustang fighter that they used in the great Earth Civil War called World War II. Very fast and nimble plane!”
Sneak: “Very good, Best Friend!” Now we’re standing in front of the F-86 Sabre, Mr. Ben’s country’s first jet fighter. Miss Jessica’s grandfather fought in the war it was used in, over in the Earth land of Korea.”
Union: “Now I’m looking at these pictures of some Humans fixing a P-38 Lightning 2-engine fighter. They used these in the same World War II, and one of them destroyed the plane that was transporting an enemy fleet commander that had attacked many ships at an island base in the Pacific Ocean.”
Oceana: “This plane seems to have some similar traits to our saucer the IFS Thunder! It will be fun to fly her again once the Grand Elder arrives and the Thunder is assigned to Earth research and defense!”
Union: “Yes, Oceana. The P-38 had a climb and altitude capability like no other at the time. I think there’s one called the White-33 back in Colorado Springs that we need to see sometime”.
Oceana: “Now I’m standing in front of another bomber called a B-57 Canberra. The B-57 was a smaller bomber than the others outside, but was used for both bombing and intelligence work. I think Union likes this plane because it has Black and Red on it!”
Sneak: “I’m planning on building a saucer for recon soon, and maybe I’ll research this plane more for ideas, and think about putting some of those rocket models here onboard to inspire me!”
Union: “Well, once we get back to Mr. Ben’s computer we can look more. What do you think of these toy Army helmets?”
Sneak: “Uh . . . mine’s too big because I can’t see anything!”
Union: “Oh, there you are Agent Fox!!! It looks like you’re coloring!”
Agent Fox: “Yeah, it’s a picture of a tank and helicopter!”
Sneak: “I want to color too!”
Oceana: “So do I!!! I’ll do this tank picture!”
Union: “Oh! They have a picture of this Train that says 833 on it!” Will we see this today, Mr. Ben?”
Mr. Ben: “Yes we will!”
Union: “Oh, good! What do you think of our coloring pictures? I hope you like them!”
Oceana: “Look at all those Earth rocket models! I know Union loves the rocket models alot!”
Union: “Behind me is a black plane. Mr. Ben had a model of it as a child and it’s called the SR-71 Blackbird. It was the fastest plane in the world when it used to fly. It was used to take spy pictures of the enemy so that ground forces would know where the enemy was and what they were doing.”
Sneak: “Here’s a favorite plane here, a B-36 Peacekeeper. It didn’t fight in any wars and was so big and powerful, the enemy didn’t dare move against Mr. Ben’s country. Good thing too.”
Union: “Speaking of favorite planes, this one is an F-104 Starfighter! It was long and shiny but it had stability problems due to how short the wings were. Had the wings been longer the plane would not have lost control. I heard a Human Officer named Chuck Yeager used one to climb to over 100,000 feet one time!”
Oceana: “There’s so many airplanes here! There’s the F-105 Thunderchief and the F-4 Phantom. What do you think of this Agent Fox?”
Agent Fox: “I like the airplanes! I know my Dad likes that gray propeller plane called an OV-10 Bronco. It was also a plane like the SR-71 but was meant to fly shorter distances, and it could even attack small enemy caravans!”
Sneak: “Look at the seats up there! I hear this is where the Hill Air Base officers get promoted!”
Mr. Ben: Ok. Before we head off to see the trains, let’s get your picture next to the F-4 Phantom. Everyone say ‘Roswell’!!!”
Union, Sneak, Oceana, and Agent Fox: “ROSWELL!!!!”
<Click!!!>
Union: “Oh, silly Agent Fox! Did you give me bunny ears in that picture?”
Sneak: “Well, now that we got this picture of us standing in front of the Lancer’s wheels, let’s go see the trains!”
Oceana: “Ok, Big Brother!”
Union: “Yes, Best Friend! I have studied these trains for some time and they are most fascinating feats of machinery and transportation! Mr. Ben? Take us there!”
UNION STATION – Ogden, UT
Mr. Ben: “We’re now at Union Station, home to a collection of historic Union Pacific and other railroad train engines!”
Union: “Look! The train engine says UNION!” I like these trains! :)”
Oceana: “Oh, Union! <laughing> You’re so funny! You’re so charming too! Look!, I’m sitting on this train engine’s front coupler, used to connect train cars on the front, and there’s one on the back!”
Sneak: “Yes, Little Sister! But look at this train engine! It says ‘833’. It must be one of those Northern-style steam-engines that Mr. Ben and Agent Fox once saw . . . called the UP-844!”
Oceana: “This engine was powered by heated steam. They would fill a large reservoir with water, and heat it with a boiler that burned either black coal or (later) fuel oil. Water that’s heated produces steam, which makes pressure strong enough to push pistons which turn the wheels. This engine was very powerful and could pull many cars between this city and the city of Green River, Wyoming.”
Sneak: “I remember that city! There was a hamburger place called Arctic Circle there! I remember how good those fries with that ‘fry sauce’ was!”
Union: “Yes, Best Friend! And I applaud you for not eating too much this time! Anyway, out here is this red / white / blue passenger train called the Front Runner!
Union: It is powered by fuel generators that power electric motors in the wheels. Even stronger and more efficient that steam trains . . . BUT I LIKE STEAM TRAINS!!! I want Mr. Ben’s people to keep them and not get rid of them like the Atlantic Hiawatha’s of the Milwaukee Road. That made Mr. Ben so sad!” 🙁
Mr. Ben: “Ok guys, here’s the inside of the museum. What do you think?”
Oceana: “Is this big orange car called a Caboose?”
Agent Fox: “Yes! I saw one when I was 3 in the town of Greeley, Colorado when my Dad took me to see the 844!” Railroad workers rode in this car at the back of the train to keep an eye on the train and to help switch cars at junctions.”
Sneak: “This lever is taller than me! I think this changes the direction of this little worker train!”
Oceana: “I think so too, Big Brother! It would be fun to ride one like this sometime!”
Union: “Look at this clicking device! It’s a telegraph! A Human inventor named Samuel Morse designed it to communicate instantly across long distances with a clicking code that stood for different Human alphabet letters! Both the railroad and telegraphs helped to expand the area that explorers and settlers went. It’s still primitive compared to our Engedian saucers with space-fold propulsion and fusion power plants . . . but the idea’s the same!”
Agent Fox: “Look! I’m on this Gandy Dancer! It was a hand-pump powered rail car they used in the old days!”
Sneak: “What’s this that we’re looking at?”
Union: “I believe this is a diesel-train engine simulator, isn’t it Agent Fox?”
Sneak: “It sure is! The cab here is just like the real ones on the railroad!”
Union: “I really would like to ride on a real train one day!”
< . . . later in the car . . . >
Mr. Ben: “I’m amazed at how you Engedians are so interested in Earth technology! It’s so ancient compared to yours!”
Oceana: “We don’t look at your Earth abilities like you look at ours. We look at what you’re doing and WHY you do it.”
Sneak: “We like how your Earth people do things. And it’s interesting to see how you solve issues and accomplish useful tasks!”
Union: “Yes! Thank you so much Agent Fox and Mr. Ben for bringing us today. We’ll have a great report to prepare for our Grand Elder and Expedition II when they arrive soon. Echo and Chance I guess are going to be part of the IFS Thunder’s testing in Colorado. And that will be soon . . . ”
For The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, we’re the Earthnauts Oceana, Sneak, and Union . . . with special thanks to our Earth friends Agent Fox and Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski! 🙂
WANT TO SEE THE NEXT EARTHNAUTS STORY? – Click HERE for the Next Earthnauts Story!
RERUN! – Click HERE for the previous Earthnauts Story!
WHO ARE THE EARTHNAUTS? – Click HERE to see how it all began!!!
© Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, 2017, authorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
(DISCLAIMER: The alien characters depicted in this story are fictional, and any real alien with similar names, similar appearance, or similar home planet is highly coincidental. Also, the aliens and some photos used for The Earthnauts stories are used in honor and parody of various works of science-fiction and alien themed literature and media. It is believed that this constitutes legal fair-use. )