Wingmakers

In late 1998, a web site appeared that caused a bit of a stir in the online New Age community. The site purported to be an account of a discovery of ancient artifacts left behind by a future race of advanced human beings. A journalist, known only as "Anne", posted three interviews with a mysterious character she called "Dr. Anderson". This Dr. Anderson had defected from a super-secret government organization called the Advanced Contact Intelligence Organization (ACIO), a department of the United States National Security Agency (NSA), and had a fantastic story to tell.

AN AMAZING DISCOVERY

In these interviews, Dr. Anderson told how a couple of hikers in 1972 had discovered artifacts and pictographs at a remote canyon in New Mexico. Due to questions about the age of the artifacts, the unusual nature of the pictographs, and the possibility that they were extraterrestrial in origin, the materials wound up in the hands of the NSA. The agency searched the area but only found a few more artifacts, which were determined to be earthly in origin. Interest in the site, now called the Ancient Arrow Project, quickly waned.

The situation changed in 1994 when a landslide opened up a part of the original site. Researchers returned to the canyon and discovered an entrance to a previously hidden cavern. Inside that cavern, they found a system of tunnels and chambers - 23 chambers in all - each with cave paintings, pictographs, hieroglyphs, and possible alien technological artifacts.

The site soon came under the jurisdiction of the ACIO, and a new team of researchers was dispatched to investigate. Though the artifacts in the chambers were virtually incomprehensible to the researchers, they nonetheless managed to catalogue them all. Most interesting was the optical disc they found in Chamber 23. It was expected that this disc would hold information about the site and its purpose, but the ACIO was unable to decode the disc with then-current technology. The disc could be read, but the information therein apparently required a key. The materials were locked away, and the Ancient Arrow Project was again put on hold.

THE KEY IS FOUND

Then, in 1996, a researcher at the ACIO had an idea. He had noticed a similarity between the ancient Sumerian language and some of the symbols found on the wall paintings in the caverns. Using his knowledge of ancient Sumerian, the researcher was able to decipher many of the symbols, and ultimately created the missing key to unlock the optical disc.

The data on the disc was found to be arranged in 23 segments, mirroring the cavern system in which it was found. Each "chamber" on the disc contained poetry, music, and philosophy of the beings that left it behind. These beings referred to themselves as "Wingmakers". They were, as the data revealed, human beings from some 750 years in our future who were culture bearers and had left behind a total of seven sites containing similar materials. The New Mexico site was the first that would be discovered. The Wingmakers had left these materials in order to assist with humanity's development, and ultimately to create a global culture.

As he studied the Wingmakers' materials, the researcher became more and more sympathetic to their mission. Finally, he decided that the materials were too significant to be kept secret. Under extreme secrecy, he defected from the ACIO and contacted Anne, a journalist he thought would be amenable to helping him go public. Thus, the Wingmakers web site was created containing much of the poetry, cave paintings, and philosophy supposedly discovered in the chambers.

THE STORY CHANGES

That was the story until sometime in 1998. In November of that year, the Wingmakers web site was completely revamped and the story therein changed significantly. The initial Ancient Arrow Site discovery, now by students from the University of New Mexico, happened in 1996 in a place called Chaco Canyon. The Wingmakers materials were revealed to be a creation of yet another mysterious person, "James", who informs us that the materials are largely fiction, yet based on facts and actual events.

The entire story of the discovery is now told by the leader of the team that decoded the optical disc, a Dr. Jamisson Neruda, and the journalist's name is now Sarah. In a series of four interviews, Dr. Neruda (who has defected from the ACIO) relates essentially the same story as before, but with an extraterrestrial twist. The Wingmakers are now members of the Central Race, superbeings from our very distant past. Just as Dr. Anderson before him, Dr. Neruda finds himself becoming a part of the Wingmakers' mission. When he attempts to publicize his findings, he must outwit the ACIO as it tries to discredit and recapture him.

The story continues and Dr. Neruda discovers the Wingmakers' true purpose: to fend off a planned invasion of Earth in 2011 by a synthetic race known as the Animus. These beings intend to use humanity to enable themselves to carry a soul, and thus become humanlike themselves. The tale gets more involved as the ACIO, through its shadowy leader "Fifteen", attempts to contact a different group of aliens and use their technology to fend off the possible Animus invasion. Through it all, Dr. Neruda maintains that the Wingmakers materials can be used today by humans to "transform themselves", and prepare for a coming golden age.

The current Wingmakers web site is filled with not only the original chamber paintings and poems, but now includes music, the Wingmakers' "philosophy", and writings from James himself. The materials are said to be usable by everyday people to "attune themselves with the Wingmakers, and become more fully integrated with humanity's purpose" (whatever that may be).

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It's almost obvious that such a fantastic story as the Wingmakers must be fiction. What is true, though, is that someone went to a lot of trouble to create this entire body of work. The paintings are colourful and interesting, and some of the poetry is quite good. Also, some "scholarly works" on the Wingmakers' philosophy have appeared, as well as CDs of the materials available for purchase.

Whatever else it may be, the Wingmakers site is at the very least a fascinating read and some harmless entertainment. Your author tends to regard the whole thing as just that - an interesting bit of audio/visual entertainment. It's tempting to speculate, though - what if it's not all fiction?

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