Retired veteran mainstrain journalist Phillip H. Krapf gives a stunning account of his initial on-board contact in 1997 with alien beings called the Verdants. After his abduction to the Verdant craft, the author is briefed on the plans of this extremely advanced race to invite humankind into the "Intergalactic Federation of Sovereign Planets." This amazing yet true story narrates how the author agrees to become the official chronicler of the Verdant/human contact mission, a vast and heretofore secret project that also includes hundred of other human "ambassadors" who have also been recruited for specialized roles. The Contact Has Begun reveals a vast amount of unprecedented information about an extremely advanced extraterrestrial civilization whose benign plans for planet Earth are later derailed by the events of 9/11/01.