August 8, 2001

If you're still here, I can assume now that you've read all the warnings, you are sufficiently alerted, and you are willing to take the risks and accept the responsibility. From this point on, we will move foreward and forego the customary alerts and warnings.

Just last night I got a call from Larry Pratt. He has a friend who works for a secret surveillance operation titled MUSE--high resolution Multi-Spectrum Satellite Surveillance. This person has finally agreed to provide Larry with detailed accounts of surveillance of New York City rooftops that has been going on through various government military branches for decades now. It seems there has been awareness of strange energy radiation activity in the Manhattan district that no one can account for.

Larry has these infra-red photos in possession and will be downloading them to me so I can post them here on the Roc's Nest page. I'm really excited to get them and begin to provide you actual evidence to substantiate our allegations. This is, of course, only the beginning of our search for the "Truth". We have other sources who will be "coming out" in the near future and creating a prescence on this page, most notably B. Keith Murphy. Professor Murhpy has been involved in federal grant research on Urban Folk Narratives. His particular interest in the Legends of the Roof Dancers has led him on a strange journey to us here at Zone Central. Look for his first letter next week.

Finally, I'm also relying on you who reads this column to help us. Many of you have been on your own unique journey that has led you to us. There is a synchronicity we share that is not coincidental. You are here for a reason. You just never realized it until now. Your ideas and input on the Zone Continuum are invaluable. Perhaps, if you dig into the recesses of your memory, you will recall an incident or an epiphany that is relavant to our quest.

So, be on the lookout for evidence of the Zones. Especially those of you who live in New York City-- be on the watch at night for anything unusual on the rooftops. Remember to only look above the fifteenth floor. We will post your comments here and create a chat page for your interaction.

Until next week,

Bruce

August 10, 2001

This is an amendment to the chapter three letter. I received it last night from Professor Murphy and thought I should post it right away.

Dear Mr. Zick

I am writing to you out of desperation. I have been following your episodes of the Zone Continuum and have some startling information for you.

I am a professor at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia. I hold terminal degrees in Rhetoric and Popular Culture from the Ohio University. My fields of expertise range across many areas of modern folklore, from urban legends to comic books to conspiracy theory. A full listing of my publications is available at my website.

A few years ago I received the first of a number of research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "Special Initiatives" Fund to study the development of urban folk narratives. I chose to focus on a folk tale that has been pervasive in the New York metro areas since the industrial revolution: The Legend of the Roof Dancers. This legend, at first blush, appeared to be a simple derivative of the old "Jersey Devil" tales, but I believe it is much much much more than that. This tale may have roots as old as The Old Babylonian "Enuma Elish" and the Indian "Mahabharata" to more current legends ranging from Lake Vostok to the West Virginia "Mothmen". I've always believed that most folk tales, while eccentric and overly imaginative, do indeed have a basis in fact, but I never thought the facts would become so intertwined with my reality.

I'll give you more details about all of this later, but let me cut to the proverbial chase. In order to see if there was some meteorological or atmospheric explanation of the Roof Dancers myth, I spent a number of nights camped out atop the Citicorps Center building(which took no small amount of bribes). That's where I saw it. A man in a shiny type of large trench coat was running across a rooftop and then, I swear to God, he leapt, kind of floated actually, over fifty feet to the adjacent building.

I went bonkers, screaming and shouting, exhilarated at the sight. I guess I brought attention to mysefl as I then heard voices shouting. I manged to slip away and make it back to the street, but on my way home, I could swear I was followed. I'm not the paranoid typed so I'm sure it wasn't a delusion. I'm quite unsettled by the whole experience, and feel, like you described in your recent Roc's Nest letter, as if I've crossed some sort of threshold and my life has been forever changed.

So now I'm not sure what to do. I want to go back and this time bring a camera and get proof positive, but I'm worried that I might get into trouble. Money's running tight, though...I'll probably have to head back to campus to wait until the next cycle of grant funding begins. Besides, I have a hard time finding someone to take care of my cat Boomer more than once.

I'll keep you posted. But I'm at the point where I have to know what it was I witnessed.

Sincerely,

B. Keith Murphy