She saw the UFO. Her father buried the story.
In July 1947, a UFO crashed on a ranch outside Roswell, New Mexico.
The army arrived. The witnesses were silenced. The official story — a weather balloon — was printed in newspapers across the country, including the one owned by Charlie Baker’s father.
Charlie was twelve years old. She’d wheeled seven miles to the crash site the morning it happened. She gathered evidence. She tracked down the army’s man in charge — found him eating lunch at the local diner — introduced herself, and left with one thing: his name.
General Jones.
It was enough. She had her lead.
When her father printed the cover-up story on the front page, she confronted him.
He didn’t look up from his eggs. “Sometimes it’s more important to be a good citizen.”
To him, being a good citizen mattered more than what his daughter had witnessed firsthand. More than the physical evidence she was holding. More than the truth.
Charlie wheeled to her room, took out a piece of alien foil from her pocket, and said: “I still believe in you. And I still know the truth.”
That’s Charlie Baker. Twelve years old, wheelchair user, investigative reporter — following in her father’s footsteps, even though he’d never given her the chance to prove herself. The most unstoppable person in 1947 New Mexico.
I wanted to write a character who shows up exactly as she is — not in spite of her circumstances, but through them. Charlie doesn’t overcome her wheelchair. She doesn’t overcome being twelve. Those aren’t obstacles in her story — they’re part of what makes her her. The girl who wheeled seven miles because the story mattered. The girl who kept the evidence even when the world said she was wrong.
And wait until you see what she does on a baseball diamond.
Charlie’s Big Chance is a standalone story — you don’t need to have read the rest of the ESA series to enjoy it. It follows the Roswell event from Charlie’s perspective: how the cover-up happened, why the truth stayed buried, and what a twelve-year-old girl did about it. Written for readers of all ages — a children’s introduction to the series and a standalone historical sci-fi story for adults.
📖 Read Charlie’s Big Chance here
Until next week,
Tony B. Richard
& Lydia Payge
P.S. Sandy, Charlie’s golden retriever, figures out something is in the barn before Charlie does. She always knows. Dog people will not be surprised.
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