For the next few weeks, everyone watched the skies. Footage of the cloud replayed over and over. Everyone had their own opinion as to what it was. Television talk shows interviewed scientists, political figures, and religious leaders. Everyone had something to say about it. The official consensus was that it was some kind of natural occurrence. “Yes, the odds are against a cloud keeping its shape as it traveled across the country,” Security Directory King said in an interview toward the end of the second week. “Especially one in such a detailed and familiar shape, but it is more feasible than aliens from outer space or some kind of secret super-weapon or spy satellite like the tabloids are suggesting.”

When it happened again, no one believed that it was a natural occurrence. This time, it appeared over the upper mid portion of the United States. All of the mid to upper states could see it. The government was more prepared this time. Teams of scientists were assembled, and dispatched. The military kept everyone else away. News crews traveling in high altitude planes and charter aircraft were not allowed within several miles of it.

Before it reached the Mississippi River, attempts to communicate with it were proving fruitless. Using the most sophisticated equipment, teams of scientists determined that there wasn’t anything substantial concealed inside the cloud. It was, just a cloud, a cloud in the shape of a man’s face. It was the exact same man’s face as before.

It looked very peaceful. Its fluffy white folds gave it the appearance of long flowing hair. Its expression was one of indifference or casual laziness, and every once in a while, the face’s mouth opened as if yawning. This cloud also drifted across the country until it reached Oregon and then it also dissipated.

A month went by before the next face appeared. This one was exactly the same as the first two, with the exception of where it traveled. It flowed over the lower middle of the United States. This time, the military and scientific teams were out in force, but there was barely any news coverage. When the face appeared the fourth time over the southern United States, even the science teams didn’t fly up to investigate. They sent up balloons with sensors. The fourth cloud followed the same pattern. It stripped the country as casually as its predecessors, taking all day for its casual journey. It didn’t vary in any way until it reached Arizona.