Getting debriefed (nothing to do with underwear)

By the time the helicopter has landed you on the deck of a nearby aircraft carrier, and you've gone through a complete medical exam that determines you're in perfect physical condition, you've pretty much convinced yourself that you dreamed the whole encounter with the genie.

You have a fairly normal mission debriefing with several Air **** officers and NASA scientists. Obviously, they're most interested in how your capsule went off course, although there's nothing much you can tell them beyond the fact that the controls just weren't responding correctly.

Finally, they let you go. As you stand up and grab your flight bag, one more thing occurs to you. "It seems to me all of this could be avoided if we didn't have to have these capsules splash down in the Pacific," you say. "I wish we had something like a craft that could land like an airplane."

You think you hear a slight pop. The officers and scientists start looking at each other strangely. Finally, the gray-haired colonel says, "Captain, sarcasm is not particularly welcome during a debriefing."

"Sir, I assure you, I'm not being sarcastic," you say. "There could even be a landing strip right at Cape Kennedy, so astronauts wouldn't have to go halfway around the world by aircraft carrier and military transport plane."

"You seem very enthusiastic about this idea," says the colonel. "Tell me, do you read any newspapers or magazines on a regular basis?"

The question seems like a non sequitur, but it's from a superior officer, so you answer it. "Yes, sir, back at my home in Cocoa, I get the Orlando Sentinel, plus Time and Sports Illustrated, and I see some other papers and magazines when I'm in the office."

"Ah," says the colonel. "Well, I don't know about Sports Illustrated. But perhaps you missed an issue of Time from several months ago that had our Space Shuttle project on the cover. I believe it's also been mentioned frequently in all the papers -- but maybe not on the funny pages."

One of the NASA scientists guffaws at that. "Hey, it's probably been in 'Buck Rogers.'"

"Space Shuttle project?" you ask. "Sir, I can assure you that I've never heard of such a thing."

There follows approximately half an hour of four men trying to convince you that the Space Shuttle exists, followed by another medical exam, this one including a few psychological tests, and that ends with the promise of a much more comprehensive psychological exam with the dreaded Dr. Bellows once you get back to Florida.

At last, you're escorted to your home for the next few days -- one of the few private "guest rooms." It's nowhere near as luxurious as the Queen Mary, but it'll do for a few days until the aircraft carrier makes it to Hawaii. Unfortunately, the journey probably won't be all that pleasant, now that everyone seems to be doubting your sanity, including you. Between this "Space Shuttle" thing and the genie you may or may not have seen, it's turned out that orbiting the Earth 10 times is the least weird thing that's happened to you today.