Army looked disgusted.
State Department was pained.
White House was silent.
The Chairman smiled, and waited for someone else to laugh.
No one laughed.
Red-faced but unyielding, FBI insisted that its report merited serious consideration.
"We've kept this thing quiet," FBI said, "but you know what the reporters could do with it."
State looked less pained. Even Army and Navy gave reluctant attention. White House asked tentatively,
"What about the Russian angle? If even a fraction of this nonsense we hear about psi is true, these people might serve an espionage purpose. Could Soviet agents have smuggled them out of the country?"
"A few, maybe," admitted FBI. "But not 3,223. Not by any known method of transportation."