Age of Heroes - Part 5

January 1, 1978

In Chelsea, Davis averts an IRA car bombing.

January 31, 1978:

Stuntman Evel Knievel jumps over pools of sharks and pirahna on national television, during a performance in Chicago, Illinois,...

February 18, 1978

In Auckland, New Zealand, Nineteen year old Olivia Walters begins investigating crime as MechGirl, using improvised technology to make up for her lack of powers.

March 19, 1978

In Sacramento, California, Thomas Sanderson, a low level staffer at the California State Capitol, finds that he can 'zoom in' his vision...

March 23, 1978:

Ho Han-jae seizes control of the criminal underworld in Hong Kong, establishing a series of underground fight clubs, drug-trafficking, and smuggling...

March 27, 1978:

Israeli Mossad agents assassinate Palestinian metahumans in East Berlin, clearly stating that the Israeli government will not tolerate metahuman weapons being used against the State of Israel,....

April 24, 1978:

Zodiac killer taunts police and vigilantes alike in a letter to local newspapers in San Francisco, California, forever escaping capture,...

April 30, 1978:

Heroes led by Eric Roberts and Tina Young gather at Canterbury, England to battle the threat of neo-fascism.

Heroes led by "Steel Pulse" gather at Trafalgar Square in London, England to battle the threat of neo-fascist vigilantes led by "Brutal Attack"

May 6, 1978:

UFO retrieval team of the United Nations disappears while in Padcaya, Bolivia, fueling tensions in the region,...

May 20, 1978

Aurora Black, a teenager in Tenterfield, New South Wales, discovers she has cryokinetic powers...

June 22, 1978

In Woolongong, New South Wales, Narelle Rawson, an education student, finds that she can teleport short distances.

July 6, 1978

In Alameda, California, a young woman, Julia Young, finds that her vision is more acute...

July 15, 1978

Angus McDonald as 'The Great McDonald' rescues the mayor of Glasgow after a kidnapping...

Police officers go on strike in Cleveland, Ohio, forcing the deployment of the National Guard. The following conditions help to create vigilantes in the region,....

August 21, 1978

In Forbes, New South Wales, Leonard Small, a 17 year old boarding at the Catholic College, discovers that he has some telepathic ability.

August 23, 1978

The CIA obtains information on the Tobasco UFO...

September 11, 1978:

KGB agents kill a Bulgarian mutant in London, England, to prevent the discovery of the Russian metahuman weapons project,...

September 22, 1978
Switching Diseases is officially renamed Orlando Syndrome after Virginia E Wolf's Orlando. It is recorded that around five hundred people - all minors - suffer from Orlando Syndrome worldwide. Another statistic points out that the global IQ mean of Orlandos (as they come to be named) is 131 IQ points compared to the global mean of around 90 in the rest of the world

October 21, 1978

The number of reported Orlandos worldwide rises to 1000.

October 22-28, 1978:

Carl Sagan and Daniel Drake brief members of the United Nations Security Council about the the metahuman situation, making several powerful conclusions:

* The position, trajectory, and lack of collateral damage caused by the meteorites suggest that they aren't natural in origin. They note how they landed in every U.S. state, Canadian province, Soviet republic, and Chinese province. The precision can't be explained as "random natural occurrence"...
* Second, the fact that the mutations to the genome caused by the meteorites is so specific that the manufacturer would need hyper-specific data noting "that even one DNA gene sequence off and a person would be dead or dissolved into a puddle of primordial slime".
* The fact that the meteors also can mutate other species suggests that this procedure has been done on other worlds with similar ecological systems, but also suggests a profound distrust of any singular species,..
* Fourth, in one of the most frightening conclusions, notes that there are only 2 conclusions currently to logically explain the mutations:

A) The biological mutations represent a sophisticated weapons system of which human beings are just guinea pigs,...

B) There is a larger and greater threat coming, and the mutations represent a "lifeboat/ life preserver for the species,...

November 18, 1978:

Jonestown Massacre; 918 people commit suicide under orders from cult leader Reverend Jim Jones in Port Kaituma, Guyana,....

November 27, 1978:

Mayor George Moscone, Supervisors Willie Brown and Harvey Milk are killed by disgruntled Dan White, claiming that he was influenced by "telepathic messages",....

J. Allen Hynek warns the United Nations General Assembly warns that metahumans represent a "show of force" against the political establishment,...

December 6, 1978:

Soviet defectors report the creation of "Institute #22" as a means to contain and control the "metahuman threat" via the Red Army in Moscow,...

December 23, 1978

Evel Knievel holds a Christmas Show at Boise, Idaho...

January 22, 1979:

Israeli Mossad agents assassinate metahuman terrorist cell in Beirut, Lebanon, citing them for the rising terrorism in the Middle East,....

February 4, 1979:

Citing the foreclosure of family farms, members of the American Agriculture Movement (AAM) militia march on Washington D.C., carrying their firearms,...

February 9, 1979:

Gang leader Cyrus of the Gramercy Riffs is assassinated, triggering a series of violent gang wars across the tri-state area.

February 10, 1979:

Police officers in New Orleans, Louisiana go on strike; in a frightening development, KKK Grand Dragon David Duke announces plans to offer "citizen patrols" to the embattled city,...

March 11, 1979:

Chinese defector Tang Yu discloses to the CIA and DIA that China has been conducting a massive psychic warfare program, fueling tensions in the region,...

March 22, 1979:

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) wins quick ratification by 38 states, fueling renewed support for feminism nationwide,...

March 28, 1979:

Three Mile Island Disaster; FEMA orders the evacuation of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Reports of massive outbreak of mutations in the area,...

April 2, 1979:

Sverdlodsk Disaster; Despite Soviet official denials of mutations, biological weapons accident triggers mutations in Sverdlodsk and Yekatrinburg,...

April 18, 1979:

Real People (NBC-TV) hosted by Byron Allen, Sarah Purcell and Skip Stephenson, becomes the first sho90w to highlight vigilantes and mutant abilities

April 28, 1979:

Magical group "Rainbow Gathering" led by "Starhawk" makes its public debut in London, England, sparking the ire of social and religious conservatives,...

May 25, 1979

In Pittsburgh, Ella Langley discovers that she has enhanced healing...

June 4, 1979

In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Oliver Rawlings discovers that he can phase through most objects (just not those made of metal).

July 7, 1979

In Boise, Idaho, a high school cheerleader, Erica Stroud, has a semi-destructive 'powering' as she suddenly bursts into flame while on top of a pyramid...

June 27, 1979

In Bowral, New South Wales, Lawrence Talbot discovers that he can teleport short distances...