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It was the busiest Xmas I'd ever seen. The interview of this eyewitness went like all the others. The subject had been brought into the hospital ER in tatters, suffering from exposure.

Considering what the victim had been through, he was quite cogent -- even remarking, 'They're gonna' let me outta' here tomorrow mornin' -- seems like ya need to be a lot sicker than me to be welcome in a hospital nowadays.'

"HMO, huh?" I quipped to relax him as the hypnotist made her preparations. Lately, I can't seem to interview witnesses without one. But that's par for the course when you are investigating an Xmas-File case. I started the session -- "Now if you don't mind, we're going to help you remember, Mister--"

"--Gritt. Strom Gritt. Look, yer shrink can keep wavin' that shiny thing in my face, but ya ain't gonna' have any luck puttin' me under. Fact is, they tried that hypno-thing on me in the Army an', an' ...."

He went under.

"It was a real tinny mechanical-like voice. I looked around, but only that varmint thing was there. Then I hear somethin' like 'We love you' in the samevoice. Well I'll be darn fool if it wasn't comin' from the rodent! The thing was walkin' on its hind legs even!"
     

"Finally," I told the hypnotist. "Now, Mr. Gritt, I want you to think of yesterday afternoon. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Sure can. It began like any normal December day."

"'Normal' meaning...?"

" 'Normal', meanin' I was out hunting grouse."

"Get anything?"

"What's that got to do with what happened?"

"You didn't, then."

"Yeah. Anyhow, there I was, it was just gettin' dark and I was trackin' in the snow. That's when I saw these oddball prints. Sorta like a rabbit's -- but really like nuthin' I'd ever seen before. At first I didn't make much of it, then, all of a sudden, I see this strange green glow comin' from the trees up ahead. So I approached, real slow like. I went 15 yards or so -- that's when I saw it in the clearing. A big, ah, how can I say it?--"

"Saucer-shaped object?" I suggested hopefully.

"More like a giant factory -- big as a warehouse -- And it was hoverin', oh, I'd say a good 50 feet up. An' there was this ramp leading into trucks --

"What kind of trucks?"

"Regular type trucks"

"From Earth?"

"Where else?

"Go on Mr. Gritt," I urged.

"Well, there's these smaller boxes -- made of cardboard, it looked like to me -- hundreds, no, maybe thousands of 'em. And, they's all moving down the ramp and into these trucks, ya see. So I snuck up closer, makin' sure they didn't see me. That's when I saw it --"

"Saw what?"

"All of them boxes had somethin' inside."

"Can you describe what they looked like?"

"I'd be glad to. Except I can't. Ya see, right behind me I suddenly feel this kind'a presence. I turn around and sure enough, there's this -- animal. It resembled some kind'a raccoon, but without a mask--and not as big. But, come to think of it, more like a squirrel, but maybe bigger -- but with a face more like a bat. Anyhow, I drew my rifle up real slow like and got a bead on 'em -- not to shoot him, mind ya, I only had a grouse permit ya see, but just in case he tried somethin', I figured I'd be ready. He could'a had rabies, ya know. Then, all of sudden, I hear, 'u-nye mee-mee noo-loo'."

"Could you repeat that, Mr. Gritt?"

" 'u-nye mee-mee noo-loo' -- It was a real tinny mechanical-like voice. I looked around, but only that varmint thing was there. Then I hear somethin' like 'We love you' in the same voice. Well I'll be darn fool if it wasn't comin' from the rodent! The thing was walkin' on its hind legs even -- I swear it."

He was breathing heavy now, even under hypnosis.

"Then I see another one. And another -- Pretty soon I was surrounded. But here's the topper -- when they see each other they all start dancin' an' singin' -- in that crazy language. Before I could get it all figured out, there's this flash of light -- and next thing I know, I'm plugged into this I-V bottle, talking to an agent of the federal government, an' drinkin' out of a straw."

"Calm down, Mr. Gritt, everything's going to be all right." The hypnotist brought him back from slumberland with her usual command -- 'Okay sir, when I say 'swamp gas', you'll wake up refreshed, and will not remember a thing about your encounter.'

That's pretty much how all of the eyewitness stories went. As I compared the accounts, I had come to realize this was no run of the mill Xmas-File.