Aliens in Whyville

      Our great city of Whyville has seen many unusual visitors in its brief history, but none beat our most recent tourists, whose strange vehicle has been spotted by many citizens as it hovers over Whyville Square. They are indeed aliens, from a galaxy far, far away! Their leaders are Captain Orzo, Science Officer Liam, Navigator Maive, and First Mate Blog, and they hail from the "nearby" Orb galaxy, about 3 million light-years away from our own Milky Way.

     After travelling for a long time from their home planet to the Earth, the first of their kind ever to do so, this merry band wanted to enjoy some of the Earth's most scenic and entertaining tourist spots. However, technical problems with their spacecraft's teleporter accidentally scattered every one of the aliens except Navigator Maive all across the planet.

     Authorities are investigating the cause of the trouble, hoping to set aside fears of sabotage. Many people think there may be a possible connection between this incident and the mysterious Dr. Paradox. As usual, Sheriff Ohms refuses to comment on the matter, except to urge all Whyville citizens to extend a helping hand to our visitors.

      Right after the accident, Maive piloted their spacecraft down to the nearest city, which, as luck would have it, was our very own Whyville! Lucky for our aliens, the residents of Whyville have just been exploring how the angle and timing of the sun's rise and set might be affected by a person's location across the globe.

      Our alien tourists have wisely packed cellular phones for their trip, and so are able to call up their UFO's answering machine and leave messages about the sun's path as observed from their location. With hard work and sharp thinking, brilliant citizens of Whyville have been able to find eight of the twelve misplaced aliens to date. It has been a "magnificently performed rescue," say the aliens, who are grateful to everyone who has helped. Navigator Maive particularly wishes to thank Sunny, CBaxter, and The Sucker for their aid thus far in the rescue, and hopes, of course, that these kind heroes and others will continue to help him find the rest of his crew. Before the aliens leave Whyville, Captain Orzo hopes to reward the efforts of these three outstanding young citizens with "traditional Orbian gifts of appreciation."

      The aliens say that their visit to Earth has been "intriguing" and "exciting." They plan to remain in Whyville for a short while in order to see more of the laboratoriesand experiments that paved the way for their rescue.

      "Whyville reminds us of home," says Blog, the ship's first mate. "Our people are also constantly asking questions, discovering new facts, and wondering how each new observation can help shed light on the Universe's many mysteries. Whyville is an excellent place to visit and to live." We agree.