Classes were starting up soon and Manuel was trying to get everything ready. Winter break was over.

It was a new year and there was a lot to do. He checked his mail before heading out for the day.

Normally he would have just grabbed the mail, set it on the coffee table and worry about it later.

But this time he looked at the envelope on the top of the pile.

It was different. There was a stamp on the right-hand corner of the envelope, one that he didn't

recognize. It was two backwards parentheses symbols with a plus sign in the middle,

kind of looking like an H.

It felt like he should open it right away, and so he did, and inside the envelope, there were two letters, 11 pages long.

Here's what it said.

We know the significance of what we are going to tell you.

We know that a statement of this nature is usually only made by a joker, a mentally disturbed person with delusional ideas.

Some journalists or publicist who intends to exploit the news for his own benefit.

When a piece of news breaks the normal molds of verisimilitude, and there are no means

and elements of judgment to testify to its reality, any balanced and intelligent mind has a right

and should adopt a skeptical or suspicious attitude. We must never accept simple testimony

and even less so when, as in this case, its origin is unknown

and therefore suspected of fraud. We know that what we are going to reveal to you is true,

but we cannot logically assume that you believe such fantastic statements. We admit that we

would react the same way in your place.

But it is nevertheless acceptable to have the attitude of tolerating any version, a priori,

in order to analyze it carefully and dispassionately in search of the truth.

In fact, all researchers on Earth have followed this criterion.

...