 Literally millions of human beings have known the sensation of leaving their native earth and soaring above the clouds and Still there are many for whom flight still holds a sense of mystery and wonder That that feeling is not wholly groundless is evidenced perhaps by the strange experience of Lieutenant Moran Even as far back as 1923 there were those who realized that if war should ever come again Its outcome would be in a large part determined by airpower and so in France as in other nations of Europe Men were being rigorously trained in the techniques of flying strafing and bombing Second Lieutenant Moran was a member of the embryonic French Air Force and on the afternoon of September 22nd He went a lot to engage in shooting practice over a field near Godot In front of him in the pilot seat was Sergeant John Dolbeck when I give you the signal sergeant begin your dive All right now Not bad, sir. Not good either. Let's go back at right again The plane circled the field once again approach the target all right second You did it that time you must Lieutenant what is the matter the sergeant stared at the man behind him in amazement Lieutenant Moran had slumped back in his seat his eyes were closed and his face was distorted with pain What is the trouble lieutenant at that moment the lieutenant fell forward face down and it was then that the sergeant saw the great red Splotch spreading across his shoulders, but you he's been shot Sergeant O'Bair landed the plane as quickly as possible And while the lieutenant was being lifted carefully from the cockpit and transferred to a waiting ambulance He made his report to his commanding officer We were a couple of hundred feet up and there weren't any other planes in the air and nobody on the ground beneath us It must have been his own machine gun. They did it one of the bullets ricocheted somehow off the ground or the target It bonds back and hit him between the shoulders I know it sounds crazy, but it's good and so that was the explanation that was officially accepted at least for a few hours But later that afternoon Sergeant O'Bair dropped around to the emergency hospital to inquire about the lieutenant's condition Oh, is he doing doctor? You had to operate. I had to remove the bullet. It was deeply embedded Imagine a man getting hit in the back with a bullet from his own machine gun I think you're mistaken. Sergeant the bullet. I just took out of his back came from a 32 revolver But where the 32 revolver came from no one has ever been able to learn The official record of the case of Lieutenant Moran was changed from accidental injury from his own weapon to Injury either accidental or intentional from a weapon in hands of a person unknown And to this day the origin of that bullet remains a subject for speculation a mystery incredible but true