When the plane started circling, I needed to disappear.
I was just goofing around on my own with an army surplus signaling mirror in our treeless backyard in Kettering. A thick piece of bright rectangular glass with an opening in the middle where light could shine through a cross. To signal you had to line up the light shining through with the opening.
Living close to Wright-Patterson, C-119 Flying Boxcars were a common sight. I could hear one coming before I could see it. I turned and scanned the sky. There it was.
Maybe this was worth a try. What did it even mean?
I held it up, aimed and hoped.
Then I saw it. The plane started a turn to the left. Uh oh.
I didn’t want to be reported. I ran into the woods behind our house. I watched and waited.
The circle completed. The boxcar flew on.
I walked back into the house and put the mirror back on the chest of drawers in my bedroom.
I never told anyone. Not even you.