Part 10 (1/2)
Rick looked up ”What are you trying to find?”
”Periodicity,” Steve said pros? Do they occur every three, four, or five days, or once a week on Mondays? Which reht put down the day of the week, too There's a calendar on the wall behind you”
”You read and I'll copy,” Rick told Scotty ”Go ahead” He waited with pencil poised over a card In afor?”
Scotty was poring over the notebook again His eyebrows knit ”You know, there's one chunk of data on just a few sightings that we didn't put down because we didn't have a column for it”
”What is it?” Steve asked
”I know!” Rick exclaimed ”There were a few tilows in the sky after they saw the objects Isn't that it?”
Scotty nodded ”I've been counting There were five instances Two people said the gloasn't really connected, because it came from Wallops Island”
”Why on earth didn't you include it in the chart?” Steve dele case, the gloas to the southeast”
”Maybe it does fit,” Steve said emphatically ”Boys, never leave out a bit of data because it doesn't seem to fit This particular chunk could very well be the clue”
”Why?” Rick asked quickly
Steve shook his head ”I' of the yello on the date cards I' to borrow that set for a closer look”
Scotty began reading, while Rick recorded When the cards were coh them There was no periodicity The dates sees had been made at different times on the same date There would be two days, three, four, five, or even six between sightings
”Not a trace of pattern,” Rick said
”Who says stingarees have to fly on schedule?” Steve asked with a grin
”They're not supposed to be like planes What's the next step?”
Scotty produced the map they had used ”One more job to do, and that's to plot the locations of the observers and draw lines in the directions of the sightings That will show us if there's any regularity in the place where the flying objects appear”
”Very good,” Steve approved
Scotty took pencil and ruler and laid the map out flat ”You read location and direction, Rick, and I'll plot the data”
”Okay” Rick began with the first ”Five miles south of Wye Mills on Route 50 Direction, southwest”
Scottythe map scale in inches, then estimated the compass direction and drew a line ”Next”
Rick read on By the ti, all three of the anxiously for each new bit of data to be plotted
Finally the job was complete Steve had hurried off a moment before and returned with a pair of compasses in his hand As the boys watched, he put the sharp point of one co into a spot on the map, adjusted the radius, and drew a perfect circle He adjusted the radius again, and drew a second circle, slightly larger, then a third
”Bull's-eye!” Rick said excitedly