The Galactic Ghost

A silent saucer lands in a deserted New Jersey field and, an hour later, implants a telepathic declaration in every human mind that Earth is fated for destruction but that a thousand people can be transported to a prepared planet within five years. Worldwide alarm and fascination follow while all efforts at direct communication fail. International leaders, scientists, and delegates convene to devise selection rules, sparking disputes over national quotas, merit, and privilege. Scientific advisers recommend picking trained specialists through education and intelligence testing, while others caution that such criteria would exclude capable but uncredentialed individuals from less literate regions.