8.9 The Sky Went Green.

Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Simple or Past Continuous.

Everyone …thought…. ( to think) that Gulf Breeze in the USA (to be) an ordinary, quiet little town until 11 November 1977. Two friends, Ed Walters and Charlie Bennett (to report) a very strange incident. At first nobody (to believe) their story, but even today, both Charlie and Ed claim that the incident really (to happen). Here is part of an interview which was shown on Florida News the day after the kidnapping.

It (to be) seven o’clock in the evening. My friend Charlie and I (to walk) through the park. We (to go) home. We (to talk) and (to laugh). Suddenly the sky (to go) very dark. Charlie (to look) up and (to say), “It’s going to rain”. Then I (to hear) a loud bang and the sky (to go) bright green. I (to think) I (to dream). There (to be) a huge, shiny spaceship just above our heads. It (not to move). It was pulling us off the ground. Seconds later we (to be) inside it. Twenty strange creatures (to look) at us. They all (to have) wrinkled skin and hands like pincers. They (not to hurt) us. They (to smile) and they (to seem) very friendly.

I don’t know how long we (to be) in space, but I think the spaceship (to move). Suddenly the door (to open) underneath us. We (to fall) out of the spaceship onto the ground. We (to be) back in the park again. Charlie and I just (to stare) at each other. We (to shake) because we (to be) so scared. Then we (to run) home as fast as we (can). That’s all Charlie and I remember. I know it sounds crazy but it’s the truth.

On 11 November 1982, exactly five years after the kidnapping, more strange things (to happen) in Gulf Breeze. Cars (to disappear), cats (to start) to fly and several people (to see) spaceships in the sky.

8.10 Scientific Theory.

After the incident, scientists tried to guess which planet the aliens were from.

Look at the statements below. If you think a statement is true, choose the letter in the true column, if you think it is false, choose the letter in the false column. Put together all the chosen letters to find out which planet it could be.

True False

It happened late at night. Z T

Ed heard a loud bang. R E

Ed and Charlie live in Australia. K I

The aliens were unfriendly. B G

Ed can’t remember everything. L E

The sky went dark green. S O

Charlie and Ed were scared. N D

The aliens came from planet ……………………………

8.11 Flying Cats!

More mysterious things happened in Gulf Breeze ten years later. Mr Alan Rogers told the Gulf Breeze Daily News what had happened on the night of 11 November 1987.

Put the verbs in the Past Simple or Past Continuous.

I ...... was sitting .... (sit) at home, having dinner with my wife when suddenly our cat, Toto, flew across the room. My wife said, “........ you (see) that?” We ............ (can not) believe our eyes. Later, we ............ (watch) TV and it ............ (change) channel.

“............ (do) you change the channel?” I asked my wife. “No,” she said. At ten o’clock we ............ (wash up) when all the lights ............ (go) out. At first we ............ (think) our son David ............ (try) to frighten us. We ............ (look) in his bedroom but he was asleep. We ............ (stay) awake all night. It was very strange and very frightening.