Maggi sees strange lights and objects in the hills near her village in Kashmir. She tells the policeman Thomas about a large, red plate she saw, but he does not believe her. The next day, Maggi returns to the site and encounters two small green men who come from the red plate. The men show Maggi their spacecraft before flying away in it. Maggi's hand is burned after touching one of the hot stones left behind, proving that her encounter was real.

1. MAGGI AND THE UFO
Beatrice Conway
1. Maggi lives in Kashmir. Kashmir is a big country in the north of India. It is a
beautiful country. There are green fields and hills. Maggi lives in a village in the hills.
People call it Kishnagar. Many of the people of Kishnagar are very poor. They have no
work. They have little food to eat. They are often hungry. The children are hungry too.
2. Maggi is not hungry. Her father has work to do. He is a shepherd. He has some sheep.
The sheep eat grass. The grass grows in the fields near the village. There is water in the
fields and the grass is good. The sheep grow fat. Maggi and her father and mother have
work and money to buy food. They are not poor. Maggi and her father and her mother
and her little brother live in a small house. It is made of wood and grass. It has one big
room. They all live and sleep in this room.
3. The top of the house is flat. They can go up and sit on it. The sun shines on the top of
the house. They sit in the sun. Maggi’s mother often sits on the top of the house. She
does her work in the sun. She makes bread. She cleans her pots. She makes clothes for
Maggi and her brother. Maggi sometimes takes the sheep to the fields. She does not go
alone. Her dog goes with her. He helps with the sheep. The dog’s name is Raja.
4. Raja is a very good dog. He runs about with the sheep. He makes them stay in the
field. If they run away, Raja brings them back to the field. Maggi likes to take the sheep
to the fields. She likes to run with Raja. Sometimes they run up the hillside. They leave
the sheep in the field. The sheep eat happily. Maggi and Raja often see strange things in
the fields. They see big holes in the earth. Sometimes they see strange lights in the hills.
They hear strange noises too.
5. They are not the noises of men. They are not the noises of birds. Maggi tells her
father about the strange things in the hills. She tells him about the noises she hears. Her
father does not believe her. ‘You are a bad girl,’ he says. ‘Stay and watch the sheep.
Don’t run up into the hills.’ One day Maggi’s father says to her, ‘The sheep are not so
fat. Take them into a different field today. It is far from here but the grass there is tall
and very green.’
6. He says, ‘The grass there is good for the sheep to eat. Make them eat a lot of the
grass, Maggi.’ Maggi does as her father tells her. She calls Raja to go with her. She
takes some milk and bread with her. She and Raja walk with the sheep up the hillside.
They walk a long away. Maggi is very tired. ‘Stop, Raja!’ she says. ‘The grass is good
here. The sheep can eat well.’ Maggi and Raja sit on the grass. Maggi is thirsty. She
drinks some milk.
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2. 7. She is very sleepy. She shuts her eyes. Raja is lying on the grass. He is sleeping. He
sleeps with one eye open. He is still watching the sheep. Just then Maggi hears a noise.
She sits up at once. Raja sits up too. He is growling. There is something strange in front
of them. It is like a big, flat, red plate. A bright light is coming from the plate. ‘What is
it’ cries Maggi. She stands up. She is afraid. ‘Raja, come home,’ she calls. But Raja
stays with the sheep. He can’t go with her. Maggi runs alone down the hill.
8. As he runs, she sees the village policeman. His name is Thomas. ‘Thomas,’ she calls.
’Please come.’ ‘What is it?’ asks Thomas. ‘Why are you running so quickly?’ ‘There is
something strange on the hill,’ Maggi answers. ‘Please, Thomas, come with me. I am
afraid.’ The policeman looks at her. ‘I am very busy,’ he says. Thomas tells her, ‘I have
a lot of things to do. I have to help all the people in the village. I have no time to come
to the hills with you.’
9. ‘Please. Please come with me,’ says Maggi. ‘The sheep are in the fields. I have to go
to them. I am afraid to go alone. Raja, my dog, is there with them. I can’t wait.’ Thomas
is a kind young man. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he says. ‘I am coming with you.’ He goes with
Maggi. They walk a long way. They find the field. They look for the big, red plate, with
its bright light. They can’t see it. They look everywhere. It is not there. There is only a
big hole in the earth full of stones.
10. The policeman is angry with Maggi. ‘You are a bad girl,’ he says. ‘You bring me all
this way up the hill. There is nothing here. There is only a hole in the earth.’ He says,
‘You watch your sheep, Maggi. Don’t tell these stories.’ Maggi is crying. ‘It’s not a
story,’ she says. ‘It’s the truth. There is a big thing. It is like a big, red plate. It has a
bright light.’ The policeman does not believe her. ‘Come with me,’ he says. ‘Call your
dog and the sheep. We are going to your father.’ Maggi and the dog and the sheep go
with the policeman down the hillside.
11. They return home to Maggi’s house. Maggi’s mother is sitting on the top of the
house. She is cleaning her pots. Her father is in the village. He is buying some food for
her mother to cook. ‘What is it?’ calls Maggi’s mother. ‘Why are you home, Maggi?
Why aren’t you with the sheep in the fields? Why is the policeman with you? Thomas,
the policeman, is not angry any more. Now he is laughing. ‘Maggi is not a bad girl,’ he
says. ‘But she tells stories. She sees a big, bright thing up there in the hills. It looks like
a big, flat plate.’
12. Thomas laughs again. ‘There is nothing there but a hole in the earth! Red plates do
not jus fall out of the sky…You fall asleep, I think, Maggi. You do not watch the
sheep.’ Maggi’s mother is angry. Her father returns home later and is angry too. ‘The
policeman is a busy man,’ he says. ‘He has a lot to do in the village. He does not have
time to look at holes in the earth.’ Maggi is very unhappy. ‘It isn’t a story,’ she says to
her father and mother. ‘And I don’t fall asleep. I do watch the sheep. But what can I do
if you don’t believe me?’
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3. 13. The next morning, Maggi is awake at five o’clock. She dresses quickly and eats her
breakfast. She takes some milk and food with her. Then she and Raja call the sheep.
They walk up the hill again. They go to the same field. ‘I am going to stay here,’ says
Maggi. ‘I am going to look for the big red thing again.’ The sheep are eating the grass.
Maggi and Raja run about. They look for the hole in the earth. They find the hole. It is a
very large hole. They sit down to watch.
14. Sometimes Maggi looks up at the sky. She sees nothing. She takes out her milk to
drink. She drinks a little of the milk. Then she hears a noise. She looks up at the sky
again. The cup of milk falls from her hand. There is a bright light in the sky. The light is
coming nearer. It is growing brighter. Then it goes behind a hill. Maggi and Raja sit
very still. They cannot see the light any more. They cannot hear any noise. The sheep
are not eating now. They are looking up at the sky too.
15. They wait. A little time goes by. They look at the side of the hill. Then they see a
strange thing. Two boys are walking along, but they are not boys. They are very small
men. Maggi looks at them. She cannot believe her eyes. The little men are all green.
Their clothes are green. They have green hats on their heads. Their faces are green too.
They have green hands. Their hands are very big. Their heads are big too. They have
larges eyes. Their mouths are strange. They are like the mouths of fishes.
16. ‘Who are you?’ calls Maggi. ‘Where do you come from?’ There is no answer. The
little men stand and look at Maggi. They make noises now. Maggi cannot understand
the noises. Then the little men look at Raja. They look at the sheep. One of the men
goes to Raja. Raja growls. He is going to bite the man, but the man goes away. He
doesn’t like the dog. The other man goes to a sheep. He rubs the sheep’s back. He takes
some of the wool from the sheep’s back. He shows it to the other man. They look at the
wool. They rub it in their hands.
17. Then they point to Maggi. They are calling her. Maggi is not afraid. She calls Raja.
She is never afraid if Raja is with her. The men are very ugly, but they look kind. And
they are not nearly as tall as she. She and Raja go with them. The two little men walk
very slowly. Maggi looks at their feet. They have no shoes. Their feet are different from
men’s feet. They are big and flat. Maggi and Raja go with the men. They go to the other
side of the hill. There is the large, red plate, in front of them. It is very near now and it is
shining brightly.
18. The men go to the red plate. It has a door in the side. They point their hands at
Maggi. Then they point to the door. They are telling Maggi to go through the door. Raja
is growling. He is saying ‘no’ to Maggi. Maggi walks away from the plate. She cannot
look at it any more. The light is too bright. It is growing brighter. It hurts her eyes. Then
she looks back at the plate. She sees something very strange. The plate is going away. It
is going across the field. Maggi looks for the little men. Where are they? They are not in
the field any more.
19. They are inside the flat, red plate, and there are no windows in the plate. Now the
plate is going very quickly. It is flying up into the sky. It goes higher and higher. It is
growing smaller and smaller. It is now a little spot in the sky. Maggi cannot see it any
more. She looks down again. There is just a hole in the earth. The hole is full of small
stones. Maggi jumps into the hole and puts her hand on one of the stones. It is very hot.
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4. She takes her hand away quickly. The stone is burning her hand. ‘Come quickly, Raja!’
she calls.
20. She tells Raja, ‘Come home to my father. I am going tell him about the little men. I
am going to tell everyone about them. I am going to tell them the truth. I can show them
the burn on my hand.’ Maggi runs down the hillside. Raja runs too. The sheep run
beside him. They are soon home. Maggi calls her father. ‘Father, where are you? Come
quickly!’ she cries. ‘The plate is here again. There are two little men with it. Raja
doesn’t like them. They are all green. But now they are flying away. There is a big hole
in the earth. It is full of beautiful stones!’ she says.
21. ‘Look at the burn on my hand. It is from one of the stones. They are very hot,’ she
tells him. Maggi’s father looks at her hand. ‘What is this?’ he asks. ‘Are you playing
some game with me?’ ‘No, Father,’ Maggi answers. ‘I will draw you a picture.’ She
draws a picture of the plate and the little men to show him. Her father is not happy. ‘Is
this another one of your stories, Maggi?’ But he takes her to the policeman’s house.
Thomas is speaking on the telephone. He is speaking to a policeman in Srinagar.
Srinagar is a big town in Kashmir.
22. Thomas looks up when he sees Maggi and her father. ‘Oh, Maggi!’ he says. ‘No
more of your stories. What is it this time?’ Then Maggi’s father tells him about the plate
and the little green men. He speaks again on the telephone. ‘There is a shepherd girl
here,’ he says. ‘Every day she sees a bright red plate in the hills. The plate flies. There
are two little green men with it.’ Thomas waits for the policeman in Srinagar to laugh.
The policeman doesn’t laugh. ‘This is a very strange story. Please wait, Thomas. I have
a friend with me. He knows all about these things,’ he says.
23. ‘My friend is a very important man. He is a scientist. He is looking for things like
that red plate. He is glad to know about Maggi and her stories. He is coming to see her
tomorrow. I am coming with him. The next day, the policeman and the scientist come to
Kishnagar in their cars. They go with Maggi up the side of the hill. They take Raja with
them. They look everywhere. They can’t find the holes. Raja runs in front of them. All
at once he smells something. There is a hole in the earth. ‘Stop!’ says the scientist.
Everyone looks at the hole. The scientist looks down at the beautiful little stones.
24. The scientist takes some of the stones in his hand. Now they are not hot. ‘I’m going
to take these stones away with me,’ he says. ‘I’m going to show them to my friends.
They are scientists too.’ They all go back to Maggi’s house. Maggi’s mother has food
ready for them. They sit down and eat the food. ‘You are a brave girl,’ the scientist tells
Maggi. ‘You are helping me a lot.’ The next day he goes back to Srinagar. The
policeman from Srinagar stays with Maggi and her father and mother and brother. He
has work to do in Kishnagar.
25. ‘Who is this important man? They ask the policeman. ‘His name is Doctor Aziz,’
answers the policeman. ‘He is a professor. He knows all about these plates. He calls
them UFOs.’ The policeman says, ‘Doctor Aziz often goes into the hills. He watches the
earth and the skies. He sees strange things. Many people see strange things in the sky
and write to the professor about them.’ ‘Do they see the same little green men? Do they
come in a bright red plate?’ asks Maggi. ‘Yes,’ he says. ‘We believe your story, Maggi.’
Maggi is very happy. At last everyone believes her.
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5. 26. ‘But what is this big plate?’ she asks. ‘And why does it fly? And who are the little
men? Does he know?’ ‘No, he doesn’t,’ answers the policeman. ‘But people see them in
many different countries.’ ‘Scientists all over the world are trying to find out about
them,’ he says. ‘People are watching for them all the time. Sometimes they see white
lights in the sky. The lights move quickly across the sky. ‘Do the little men come from
far away? Do they come from other worlds? Are more little green men living in the
skies? The scientists do not know. They cannot tell us.’
27. Some time later a letter comes from Maggi. Thomas, the policeman, brings it. It is
from the professor, Doctor Aziz. Maggi reads it very slowly. She does not often go to
school; she cannot ready very well. ‘Thank you, Maggi, for all your help,’ she reads.
‘My friends thank you too. You are helping us all. And I have good news for you. There
is precious metal in the stones. It is a very important metal.’ Maggi reads on: ‘Take your
friends to the hills, Maggi. Take all the people from the village. If people have no work,
tell them to bring as many stones as they can down the hill.’
28. The letter says, ‘Wash the stones and put them in a place near your house.’ Maggi
tells her friends about the letter. They are very happy. All the people in the village are
happy too. Now they have work to do. The Professor sends some men to help. The
people of Kishnagar choose the stones with precious metal in them. He sends money for
their work. The people laugh and sing as they take the stones down the hillside. ‘I want
a new door for my house,’ says one man. ‘My wife wants a new dress,’ says another.
‘My mother is ill,’ says another man. ‘Now I can buy something to make her well.’
29. Now the people have more work to do. They fill boxes with the stones. They put the
boxes onto lorries. The lorries take the precious stones to Srinagar. Kishnagar is a busy
place. Everyone in Kashmir knows the name Kishnagar. They know Maggi’s name too.
Her picture is in the papers. Raja’s picture is in the papers too. The people of Kishnagar
have more money now. They have money for food. They can buy more sheep. They can
grow more food on their farms and in their fields.
30. Kishnagar is now a rich village. But the people are always busy. They are not lazy.
They watch their sheep, and work on the farms and in the fields. They carry water. And
there are still more stones in the hills. As they work, they think of the little green men.
They look up into the sky. Where are the little men? Are they coming back one day?
The people think about Maggi too. Everything is easier for them now because of Maggi.
Now, if she tells them a story, they all believer her. She and her dog Raja are very
important people in the village of Kishnagar.
31. Maggi does not say much now about the red plate in the sky. She does not say much
about the little green men. But she walks in the hills with her eyes and ears open. Raja
watches the sheep and rolls in the grass with his legs in the air. Maggi watches the sky
for the white light and the bright red plate. She listens for strange noises and looks for
new holes in the earth. She thinks, ‘The little men call me…This time I go with them
inside the plate…Raja does not growl or bite…Raja and I fly away to other worlds and
see many strange things…’
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