Herbert L. Cranston was a rocket scientist born in Cape May, New Jersey. In 1946, he was stationed at the White Sands military base when an alien spaceship landed close to the base. Cranston was on one of the jeeps that drove to the ship. By then, the alien Dr. Tachyon had already emerged from the spaceship. Cranston was the first human being to talk to Dr. Tachyon and shake the alien's hand, when he welcomed Tachyon to Earth.