Joe and the Secret People

by Thomas Martin

In the mid-1980s I was working at Lockheed Aerospace in Burbank, California.  I was on an exciting project that was rapidly growing, requiring many new employees.  Most, like myself, were young and had recently graduated from college.
 

It was during this time that Joe was hired.  He had graduated from an out-of-state university and moved to the “beach country” of California.  He was young, naïve, and often quite gullible.  

Joe was also rather paranoid about having a perfectly clean “record,” especially now that he held a security clearance for this job.  As an example, he got a parking ticket while at the beach one day and wanted to “fight it” to get it off his record.  We told him the only way you can get in trouble from a parking ticket was by ignoring it. But Joe was upset by this stain on his “record.”  

So, that’s Joe.

Our building at Lockheed sat along the runway of Burbank Airport.  The back of the building was an aircraft hanger and it was common to see planes parked behind the hanger as well.  What we all came to notice, but never talked about, was an unmarked 737 that sat behind our hanger in the early mornings and late afternoons.  During that time it was common to see men boarding or exiting the plane, carrying their overnight bags.

   

At the end of one work day, Joe and Helene (our mischievous department secretary) were walking out of the hanger to their cars.  Helene noticed Joe looking at the men exiting the airplane.  She forcefully grabbed Joe, turned him toward her and said, “What are you doing?  Are you looking at the Secret People?  Please tell me you didn’t look at the Secret People?!”  

Joe, now panicked that he had done something wrong, stammers, “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to look at the Secret People!”  

Helene told him, “Well, don’t do it again and don’t tell anyone about this.”

Poor Joe was terrified.  His whole life seemed about to come crashing down.  No doubt he got very little sleep that night.  

The next morning Joe decided that he needed to “come clean” and sought out someone to hear his confession.  Joe chose poorly, deciding to confess to the department administrator, Patty.  

Patty listened patiently to his confession, terribly puzzled by his story.  What she did hear though, was that Joe was with Helene at the time of this “crime.”   After Joe’s emotional confession, Joe left her office and joined his immediate supervisor, Roger, in Roger's office. Patty then went to find Helene.  At Helene’s desk, Patty repeated this amazing story of Joe and the Secret People.  Helene burst out laughing.  Also present at the desk was Al.  Al worked in government security and very much looked the part.  He had black hair, broad shoulders, a square face, and a very stern look.   So, Helene first tells them both what happened the day before.  After everyone stopped laughing, Al asked, “So who is this guy?  Where does he sit?”

Al walks out of the administrative offices and finds Joe in Roger's office.  Al sticks his head in and asks, “Are you Joe?  I need to speak to you when you are finished here.”

Joe had never met Al before and asked Roger, “Who is that?”  Roger tells him, “That’s Al, with government security.”

Now Joe is sweating bullets.  He sees his entire life crumbling apart.  He cuts his meeting short with Roger and locates Al. 

Al says to Joe, “I understand you saw the Secret People yesterday.”  Joe nervously replied, “Yes, but I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to look at them.”

Al smiled and calmly explained to Joe that he had done nothing wrong.  Everything was ok.

Well, not really.  As Joe was talking to Al, Helene was busily spreading the story around the office.  By the time Joe returned to his desk, the entire building knew the story of "Joe and the Secret People."   

Thirty years later I still have one friend from Lockheed who regularly asks me to re-tell this story at parties.  Joe’s fame lives on!

 Copyright © 2020, Thomas Martin, All Rights Reserved