 |  Searching For The Truth |
On July 4th 1947, so the story goes, a UFO crashed near the town of Roswell, New Mexico, killing the four alien occupants. The incident was reported to the local sheriff, who in turn informed the nearby US Airbase. On 8th July, a press release confirmed that the vehicle wass indeed a 'flying saucer'. It was contradicted the following day, the UFO identified as a weather balloon, and has been denied ever since.
Rumours and speculation surrounding this most famous of alleged cover-ups abound, and this single incident could be used as the springboard for a variety of different campaigns depending on how you want to explain the events of July 1947. For example, did one of the pilots survive the crash, and if so what happened to them? Are these the same aliens responsible for the countless reported abductions? Is there an Area 51 in the Nevada desert, where the advanced alien technology is studied and used to develop, among other things, stealth aircraft and secret moon mission craft? A few of these possibilities are explored in Independence Day, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 'Little Green Men', and a popular american series about the FBI...
Shot and killed in Dallas, Texas on 22nd Novemberr 1963. His alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself killed shortly after by a man named Jack Ruby. Like so much of the lives of the Kennedy's, including his brother's death in equally compelling circumstances, the mystery surrounding the 35th President's death and alleged CIA involvement can provide a rich source of inspiration for referees. An event of historic significance such as this could be the goal of a conspiratorial group, or merely a necessary step towards the ultimate aim; it could even be an aberration, a rogue member driven over the edge who jeopardises the whole scheme and indoing so provides a vital clue.
For ideas on how to develop ideas based on the assassination of a leading political figure, there is of cource Oliver Stone's JFK, and also the series of supplements for Shadowrun detailing the election of 2057, in particular the death of new President Dunkelzahn and its implications.
An area of the Atlantic bounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, which throughout history has been the site of innumerable disappearances of ships and aircraft. Named in 1945, after six US Navy planes were lost on December 5th, on a calm sunny day in perfect flying conditions, just as the majority of disappearances have occurred in fine weather or close to port, often following radio communication. Many explanations both extraordinary and mundane have been seggested to explain the lack of debris, strange electrical surges and interference with radio messages, but none have been satisfactorily established.
In your campaign, an area such as the Bermuda Triangle could house a secret government installation, the research centre of an anarchist society, or even a colony of aliens whose motives could be anything from peaceful, anonymous existence to eventual invasion.
There have been numerous enigmatic and often sinister organisations scattered throughout history, whose influence and longevity vary considerably but whose ideals and activities could be expanded and developed to form the basis of an historical or modern-day conspiracy. Among the more infamous of such groups are the Rosicrucians, or the Order of the Rose-Croix, who claim to date back to 1489BC and thus be the oldest secret society in the western world; the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a short-lived but influential occult order whose membership included W.B. Yeats and Aleister Crowley; the Order of the Knights Templar, originally the militant arm of the church during the Crusades but later brought down amid accusations of sorcery and devil-worship; the Order of Illuminati, and of course the Freemasons.
The inherent secrecy of these organisations, the strange rituals with which they were associated, often involving suggestions of magic, the wealth and fame of some of their members, and a desire for political and religious reform, would make any of these groups, adapted to suit the needs of a particular campaign, ideal adversaries for investigative PCs.
For further information on these and other secret groups from history, see the Nephilim supplement 'Secret Societies' and 'Golden Dawn' for Call of Cthulhu.
