Part I: OMENS, COSMIC CLUES and DENIAL

Everything about Oak Island was almost tropical. The air had the wonderful smell of gardenias and magnolias floating all around, and with the sea breeze I felt like I was back in Hawaii where I had lived back in the late sixties. Suddenly a large green and black moth flew into the carport and roosted itself on the screen door. Setting up the tripod and camera so not to disturb the moth was tricky as well as nerve racking. The moth was at least 3 inches from wing tip to wing tip. The army drab green camouflage pattern on the moth set off laughter between us all, because only a few hours earlier that day a local resident stopped by to chat as he saw us sipping suds in the carport. He asked us at one time during his conversation if we knew what "camouflage" was. And of course we did as my father was a colonel in the Marines and Dave's father was a Sargent Major in the Air Force; and all military brats know what camouflage is.