Since the airing of last week’s UFO Hunters on the History Channel, several folks have been asking in general about our UFO archive at the Lion and the 1891 incident, specifically (and if you missed it, it looks like they'll be airing the "Invasion: Stephenville" episode again on Sunday, April 13th 11:00 PM, Monday, April 14th at 03:00 AM, and Saturday, April 19th at 03:00 PM, EST). Here’s some back story on both:
In 7th grade, my creative writing teacher here in Stephenville gave us an historical fiction assignment. To help us pick a topic for our stories, we were to pour over old news snippets collected in calendars created by a local history buff (so Dan, if you’re reading--this is all your fault!). Ever the nerd, I of course was elated when I found the following:
June 12th/13th, 1891: Several Dublin citizens reported seeing and hearing what
appeared to be a brilliantly glowing bale of cotton suspended 300 feet in the
air, near Wasson & Miller’s gin last night. The thing exploded like a “bomb
shell,” burning local vegetation and leaving “peculiar stones and pieces of
metal, all of a leaden color” as well as “fragments of manuscript” in a language
that “no one has yet been found who has ever seen before…” (from the Dublin
Progress)
Wowsers! Much to Teacher's chagrin, her attempts to extract from me a story not including bug-eyed monsters (or unicorns, or both) failed. Though I've successfully blocked most of those memories from my mind, I have the sneaking suspicion that my treatment of the peaceful pioneers of Erath County involved their getting invaded by time-travelling Romulans, or somesuch. Sigh...to be a young geeky pariah of public school society. If you just shuddered in empathy in your own recollections of having been a nerd awash in a sea of coolness, raise your hand thusly:
Aw. I knew you could!
Okay, space cadets--let’s time warp now back to the past present (Tense? I, too; I, too.). After the January hubbub here in Stephenville, I spoke with an old grade school buddy who, as old grade school buddies are wont to do, cheerfully dredged up that awkward period of my life and that infamous assignment. “Guess Erath’s had a long history of UFOs, huh,” was her tossed-off comment which planted the seed of what is now our Erath County UFO archive.
Bob Dunn, who is graciously allowing us to host his Lone Star Library Texana collection upstairs, had just that week brought in some new Erath county memorabilia and history books. I spent the next several hours pouring through the collection until I found the copies of the same calendars we used for inspiration all those years ago.
In addition to the aforementioned entry were other accounts, mostly seemingly of meteors, but a couple somewhat less explainable. This was the inspiration for the archive. I then sent out an open invitation to residents to add their personal accounts. That invite, by the way, is still open, folks, so keep those reports coming.
I've had folks ask what angle I'm taking on this. I'd like to say right now that I love science, love science fiction, and have a healthy sense of wonder along with a healthy bit of skepticism. I am merely gathering these records, not drawing conclusions. I am treating this project as something which might someday be of use to folks researching a variety of aspects of both our county history and UFO phenomena. And, in my book, a UFO is just that--an Unidentified Flying Object. So don't be shy--while I'm certainly having a blast with the project, I will not be testing you for high levels of midichlorians should you add your story to the collection...yet.
The archive is just in its infancy. It's merely a hobby of mine right now, but I hope in time it will be of some historical use. I'm also accepting donations of old news clippings, visual or audio related to the sightings, media and societal responses to the recent flap, advertisements related to the January sightings, and personal accounts not only of sightings but also of the emotional or otherwise impact the hubbub has had on residents.
...and that 1891 news clipping? I've long lost both the story and research from all those years ago, but here's a copy of one of the original articles on the incident recently sent to me from the Dublin Public Library (a wonderful library, I might add, but that's for another blog):
But wait--there's more!!! Stay tuned folks...I've just gotten a telegram from the Lion's own cub reporter, Sara Jay, requesting I stop the press, for she's just scooped what may be the Stephenville Story of the Century! More to come...
Nanu, Nanu,
Shepherdess
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