El Físico Nuclear
The empire pertaining to El Físico Nuclear was created and is almost completely ruled by a Mr. Mike Palatkin, of Gorman, a small town in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California. The members of this community form a sizeable part of the population of the city itself. The society's primary goal is to promote awareness of El Físico Nuclear, a wrestling hero who came to earth millions of years ago to help the human race evolve into its present state. He continues to guide us and lead us onward towards the race's ultimate goal of "Truth, Science, and Fair Play!" This last is the battle cry of the Nucleares, the devoted fans who turn out to cheer their hero at his wrestling matches, which normally take place in various arenas through southern California.*
The community was founded on April 30, 1961, when Mr. Palatkin was led to Gorman by a series of lights in the sky, which he is sure were the Sisters of El Físico, a group of interstellar space travellers with transplanetary shipping interests. In his own words, "five globes of light shuddered from side to side, then settled on a hillside. After driving a stick into the ground where they disappeared, I came back in the morning and laid the plans for the community then and there." This community currently features some three dozen trailer homes, which house the commune, a museum, a research center, and affiliated projects.
Despite this holy sign, its members have not declared the place as holy ground, nor have any physical boundaries been established for the empire. Typical of communities of this sort, it has focussed instead on consciousness as its method of colonization. The imaginary community is held together mostly by _The Físico Nuclear Experience_, the society's official organ, which is edited by Palatkin. Many of the contributors live in Gorman, having migrated there to be part of the community. Others report on Físico events throughout the world. The subjects most frequently covered in articles are back-interpretations of past events and archeological artifacts in light of the El Físico Nuclear paradigm, stories reprinted from pulp magazines, and news for fans about upcoming matches, movies and other events.
The empire is temporally teleological, as are most communities of its kind; its endpoint is a universal awareness of El Físico Nuclear, who is portrayed as an extraterrestrial savior with supremely powerful technological skills. On this last point Palatkin and several others are adamant. A rift has recently formed between those adherents, including Palatkin, who believe that El Físico Nuclear achieves his goals by means of a hyperadvanced science, and that therefore his powers are completely explicable by physics, and those who claim that El Físico's powers defy natural laws, and that their figurehead is essentially supernatural. As the book goes to press, there has been no word on a resolution of this rift, and future editions may require a separate entry for a supernaturalist society inspired by El Físico Nuclear. Currently, however, both agree that all humans have the potential to be as El Físico Nuclear is now, when human evolution reaches its end. Psychic power, world peace, and immortality are some of the benefits of the Kingdom of El Físico Nuclear which are to come to Earth from his home world.
*The wrestler El Físico Nuclear, who really exists, apparently wishes to have nothing to do with the society which features him as a figurehead. During a recent interview with _Quick Magazine_, he responded to questions about his extraterrestrial origins and supposed powers with a curt denial, and subsequently cut the interview short. This attitude has not deterred the Nucleares, who see this action as a reminder that "we are responsible for our own destiny."
From A Brief History of Invisible Cities, Imagined Communities,and Visionary Empires of the Twentieth Century (New Haven, Conn.: False Paper Trail Press, 1975), 35-36. Translated by Hermester Barrington from Eine Kurze Geschichte unsichtbarer Städte, eingebildeter Gemeinschäften, und hellseherischer Kaisertüme der zwanzigsten Jahrhundert, by Nicolas Bourbaki (Zürich: Bibliographisches Institut AG, 1974), 26.
© 1998 Hermester Barrington
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