UFO History From Aurora, TX(1897) to Roswell, NM(1947) and Beyond - Government Lies and Cover Up

Chapter 1 - Early Beginnings....

Aurora, TX - April 17, 1897





The story of the demolished windmill, a crashed craft and a spaceman with a fitting and respectfull buriel.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d3ff67103644.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/626600b65bbb.jpg[/atsimg]



So what really happened? Well unfortuantly we still do know for sure but this may have been an amazing and monumental event, the first known or recovered crash in US history.

In 1896 and 1897, reports of mysterious airships using powerful searchlights were being reported all over the United States, from California to Illinois. Hundreds of people reported seeing one of these airships in several counties in Texas. On Monday morning a little after 6 a.m., April 19, 1897, the airship crashed in Aurora on Judge James Spencer Proctor's place, destroying the windmill over his well along with the judge's flower garden. There was a big explosion, and debris was scattered over several acres. The airship pilot was nursed in a local barn but died that day.

www.findagrave.com...

Some of the debris also revealed material sketched with a type of hieroglyphic. The town folk gave the poor little creature a proper burial in the local cemetery.

www.ufocasebook.com...

Original Newspaper Article from 1897:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/03fa71200f85.jpg[/atsimg]

Now like many of you I can only go on the articles and information posted thusfar, although there is a document from the MJ-12 archive i would like to share and which is also relevant to a coming chapter but i will post now and then again later for reference.

Please note the final paragraph in which George C Marshall talks about ongoing plans / efforts etc but he mentiones 1897 as almost a starting point when talking about looking at sightings onwards from 1897, a very strabge date to start from, why would he have picked that date?

Here is the document:

www.majesticdocuments.com...

References:

www.archives.gov...

www.majesticdocuments.com...

www.unmuseum.org...


I would also like to add as edit that in this era there was no flying object in the sky at all, known or unknown, this was still 5 years from the wright brothers flight that would lead to the revolution of flight. However there may have been balloons etc but i just wanted to add that.
That in this day and age seeing or reporting UFO's has become almost mainstream, seeing heli's planes etc is the norm but in those days it was very rare to see anything in the sky apart from birds... keep that in mind when reading this thread.



Related Media:



Aurora 1897 with Jim Marrs





Auroa, TX investigation with the UFO Hunters





Coming Up - Chapter 2

The Battle of LA - 1942

Ch 2 - 1942 The Battle of Los Angeles


What really happened that day - it was the early morning of Feburary 25, 1942.

Suddenly air raid sirens sounded, spot lights pointed to the air looking for phantom planes or fighters, almost 1500 anti aircraft rounds were fired into the air, and up to this day there is little or no official explantion of what happened or what caused the panic.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5a8a6b3461cb.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a8bd5a4c188e.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/87e5dd327a89.gif[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0578e4a9a176.jpg[/atsimg]

All photos courtesy :
www.bibliotecapleyades.net...



Then there is this front page headline in the Long Beach Press Telegram:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/658c786bce70.jpg[/atsimg]

www.ufocasebook.com...


The LA Examiner -

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8a4123aa2a22.jpg[/atsimg]

Now a post i made recently in another thread but i think is worth sharing here and the main reason i started this new thread:

In Regard to the Interplanetery Phenomenon Unit, well the name is pretty self explainatory...


I have been trying to look into this more, now the original Wiki page was deleted but is still available here:

deletionpedia.dbatley.com...(deleted_13_Aug_2008_at_22:02)

Now there is one part that stood out to me and that i have been hearing around:

However, another MJ-12 related document of questionable authenticity, indicated the unit was supposedly established early in 1942 by General George Marshall following a well-publicized UFO incident, the so-called "West coast air raid" or "Battle of Los Angeles" in which an unidentified object or objects over Los Angeles resulted in a massive anti-aircraft barrage.

Now let's look at 1942 to start with, what if this should the fames Rosewell incident? In other words we all look at Rosewell as the first case of crash ot possible contact but what if this had already been going on for 5-6 years.
Courtesy of UFO Reality's post above are better copies of some of the MJ-12 documents and one of them supposedly relates to the formation of the IPU ( Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit )

Doc: www.majesticdocuments.com...

Now that is fine and people will say well it may be Hoax, and yes maybe it is, but lets also look somewhere else.

The Presdential Executive Order Dissposition Table / Archive. Now there was one that stood out to me around the time of this letter and the not long '' The battle of L.A.''

Executive Order 9078 - Establishing the Army Specialist Corps

•Signed: February 26, 1942
•Federal Register page and date: 7 FR 1607, March 3, 1942

www.archives.gov...

Also on the same page not much further down from the order was another relating to Nevada:

Executive Order 9086

Withdrawing Public Lands for Use of the War Department as a General Bombing Range; Nevada

•Signed: March 4, 1942
•Federal Register page and date: March 7, 1942 7 FR 1746
•Amended by: EO 9526, February 28, 1945; Public Land Order 2613, 27 FR 1759

Now does this directly relate to the formation of the IPU, for the best part of it's life the IPU was linked to the Army directly and the merged into other area of defence.

I'm sure with many hours to spare you could find many interesting acts signed in this archive, i guess it's one of places we think might be to obvious but does something of interest.

Also another link of great interest that i also posted in my previous thread was of an interview of Mrs June Crain a former Military Employee frim the late 40's and early 50's - she worked at wright patterson and other bases.

It is a long transcript but very intruiging and worth the read, this is the sorta thing we look for. We often say well why wont someone who worked there or saw the evidence come forward, well this is it, this is what we want and we should take notice!

If we dont take notice of this or others that come forward and dismiss them has fraud then what is the point of wanting them to come forward in the first place...

Many of you have developed a menatlity that yu want proof or want direct witness's but when one comes along you are quick to dismiss them as fake.

Seriously read this interview:

www.ufocasebook.com...




Related Media -



Youtube ( soundclip of original radio reports from 1942 - audio only )





MSNBC News Report






Wikipedia Information


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d21e232aa08f.jpg[/atsimg]

Air raid sirens alarms throughout Los Angeles County on the night of 24–25 February 1942. A total blackout was ordered and thousands of air raid wardens were summoned to their positions. At 3:16 a.m. the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing 12.8-pound anti-aircraft shells into the air at reported aircraft; over 1,400 shells would eventually be fired. Pilots of the 4th Interceptor Command were alerted but their aircraft remained grounded. The artillery fire continued sporadically until 4:14 a.m. The "all clear" was sounded and the blackout order lifted at 7:21 a.m.

In addition to several buildings damaged by friendly fire, three civilians were killed by the anti-aircraft fire, and another three died of heart attacks attributed to the stress of the hour-long bombardment. The incident was front-page news along the U.S. Pacific coast, and earned some mass media coverage throughout the nation.[4]


Wikipedia - Battle LA 1942

Coming up - Chapter 3


Prequal - UFO Crash and Retrieval - Missouri, 1941

I've already seen all the information and documents for this event, but your presentation was good. There's no way it was a "weather balloon". It's clearly a flying saucer and probably of extraterrestrial origin. Those same objects have been seen in the sky for thousands of years, which rules out the possibility of them being illusions or spy devices from other countries.

Chapter 3 - UFO Crash and Retrieval in Missouri, 1941




This story is fairly new to me and has taken me some time to read through all the information i have been able to find online.
I am surprised that i hadnt heard of this until another ATS member mentioned it to me in a previous thread... and for this particular chapter i will be posting mainly off site content as a source and link to data and will leave it up to you to make a decision.

UFOevidence.org.

One of the most mysterious stories of a crashed UFO with alien bodies preceded the well know Roswell events by some six years. Reverend William Huffman was summoned to pray over alien crash victims outside of Cape Girardeau, Missouri in the spring of 1941. He was shown three victims, not human as expected, but small alien bodies with large eyes, hardly a mouth or ears, and hairless.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/98f51bfe9b95.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/34eb6d227a06.jpg[/atsimg]

(Southern Baptist Reverend William Huffman, witness to the crash in Missouri, began his ministry in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1941. Photograph courtesy Reverend Huffman's granddaughter, Charlette Mann, and Majestic-12 documents researcher, Ryan Wood. (credit: Genealogical Research)

Images are courtesy of UFOevidence.org

Next we have some of the interview transcripts from the reverend's grandaughter (visit link below for full interview)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/710bf4bbd707.jpg[/atsimg]

"I saw the picture originally from my dad who had gotten it from my grandfather who was a Baptist minister in Cape Girardeau Missouri in the Spring of ‘41. I saw that [picture] and asked my grandmother at a later time she was at my home fatally ill with cancer so we had a frank discussion.

"She said that grandfather was called out in the spring of 1941 in the evening around 9:00-9:30, that someone had been called out to a plane crash outside of town and would he be willing to go to minister to people there which he did."

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a1267619095e.jpg[/atsimg]

"Upon arrival it was a very different situation. It was not a conventional aircraft, as we know it. He described it as a saucer that was metallic in color, no seams, did not look like anything he had seen. It had been broken open in one portion, and so he could walk up and see that.

"In looking in he saw a small metal chair, gauges and dials and things he had never seen. However, what impressed him most was around the inside there were inscriptions and writings, which he said he did not recognize, but were similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics."

Full transcript - UFO Casebook.com

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/48f770d5973d.jpg[/atsimg]

(Above)This is a very infamous photo and untill reading up on the particular event i didnt realise it related to this crash incident. Whether it is real or a hoax is matter of debate and i am sure it has been debated on ATS many times, but now that i have been able to put the photo into context to the story it relates to it helps me to an extent, but i still cannot make a decision on it's authenticty and will not attempt to convince anyone. I am only providing information so that you can make your own informed decision.






Next we have some information courtesy of The Black Vault

UFO Crash and Retrieval-Missouri, 1941

One of the most mysterious stories of a crashed UFO with alien bodies preceded the well know Roswell events by some six years. This case was first brought to investigators by Leo Stringfield in his book "UFO Crash / Retrievals: The Inner Sanctum." He opened a tantalizing account of a military controlled UFO crash retrieval which is still being researched today. The details of the case were sent to him in a letter from one Charlette Mann, who related her minister-grandfather's deathbed confession of being summoned to pray over alien crash victims outside of Cape Girardeau, Missouri in the spring of 1941. Reverend William Huffman had been an evangelist for many years, but had taken the resident minister reigns of the Red Star Baptist Church in early 1941. Church records corroborate his employment there during the period in question.


Huffman's GranddaughterAfter receiving this call to duty, he was immediately driven the 10-15 mile journey to some woods outside of town. Upon arriving at the scene of the crash, he saw policemen, fire department personnel, FBI agents, and photographers already mulling through the wreckage. He was soon asked to pray over three dead bodies. As he began to take in the activity around the area, his curiosity was first struck by the sight of the craft itself.

Expecting a small plane of some type, he was shocked to see that the craft was disc-shaped, and upon looking inside he saw hieroglyphic-like symbols, indecipherable to him. He then was shown the three victims, not human as expected, but small alien bodies with large eyes, hardly a mouth or ears, and hairless. Immediately after performing his duties, he was sworn to secrecy by military personnel who had taken charge of the crash area. He witnessed these warnings being given to others at the scene also.

As he arrived back at his home at 1530 Main Street, he was still in a state of mild shock, and could not keep his story from his wife Floy, and his sons. This late night family discussion would spawn the story that Charlette Mann would hear from her grandmother in 1984, as she lay dying of cancer at Charlette's home while undergoing radiation therapy. Charlette was told the story over the span of several days, and although Charlette had heard bits and pieces of this story before, she now demanded the full details.


More Information - The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project

Related online content:

Mufon Pdf Report - The First Roswell

UFOevidence.org - Case Summary





Government Sources:

I cannot vouch for or substantiate the below images as authentic but they are from related sites and are apparently courtesy of FOIA requests in Washington -

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2bf0fef4b909.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4d41fad5967a.jpg[/atsimg]

Source - The UFO Chronicles

"We got validation by going to the archives in Washington D.C. And to see a top secret declassified document that stated that there was in fact a crash retrieval in 1941 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for me, I have not forgotten holding that paper in my hand and realizing that my families story was real, was solid, and for me was just an answer to a long time question."

UFOchronicles - 1941 Incident

Related Media:

Short Youtube clip - Cape Giradeau Summary






Coming up -


Chapter 4 Roswell.....

I apologize for posting this in the wrong thread, but I am too new a member to start my own yet...seems there are multiple witnesses of a triangularish ufo chicago illinois a couple days ago and it even made some news. Haven't seen a thread about it was hoping someone could get one started. I am also at work right now so navigating the boards is rough :/

reply to post by HiroProtagonist


Is this the one you were refering to?

www.latest-ufo-sightings.net...


Yeah kinda off-topic but it's ok, it's hard when you cant start your own threads.... Although if your interested in UFO's and Aliens, i would love some feedback on this thread

Great stuff mate, well presented and put together, regarding the content I cant believe that people will argue against evidence like this, the mind boggles

reply to post by Havick007


Yep that's the one, thank you...very much looking forward to reading THIS thread when I get off work and have time to really look at it...seems very well put together and detailed.

reply to post by On the level


Yeah it is amazing how ignorant some people can be.... although i will say this;

I try to remain objective on the issue and although the articles and testimony of various witness' are very compelling, i still have not seen anything that provides 100% proof.. sadly

Although i am more of a believer than a skeptic, i think by now that is obvious


Information such as the above chapters in this thread are to easily forgotten or buried and need to be revisited and researched againa and again untill a conclusion can be met. I love the internet because it is almost an extension of our brain or intelligence and is fantastic for sharing information and idea's!

It helps us to work together and collaborate to find answers to many questions

Chapter 4 - Roswell, NM (1947)




[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/057462bc7598.jpg[/atsimg]


Introduction -



Ok before i start i want to add that i do not have any new information or exclusive stories and anyone that has an interest in this incident will most likely have seen the below information but i still wanted to include it in this thread for obvious reasons....


On a personal note, i have always had a huge interest in Roswell. I am still fairly young but i remember back when i was about 14 looking up this subject when i still had dial up internet


It was stories like this that got me fascinated in the whole UFO and Alien subject matter but it still surprises me that for many years after 1947 this issue was forgotten and only revived in the mid 80's.





To start with i am going to go seemingly off-topic but i still think this interview with Donald Heyhoe relates to the Roswell incident in an obscure way. I actually posted a thread about this interview but i thought it was fitting to add it in to this thread

I will explain why i think it relates to the Roswell incident after the clip

Major Donald Keyhoe - Interview on the Mike Wallace Show 1958



Reference to 1947-48 toward end of part 1 (above clip)






So basically Don is on the Mike Wallace show explaining his beliefs about UFO's and his work after military life on the subject of UFO's. Now... What stood out to me was during the interview he talks about certain incidents that occured previously to 1958 and mentions 1947 a few times. He never mentiones the name of Roswell but it is a direct link to an incident and certain military actions around the era of 1947.

This may not seem important but important but remember that a year or two after 1947 the issue was all but forgotten untill the mid eighties.... just keep that in mind

The entire interview is fantastic and interesting to similaritied between today's beleif's about the government and those of 1958. Remember as well the Donald Keyhoe was a previous Major in the Airforce.





To the main topic -


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb232cd1ba67.jpg[/atsimg]

Wikipedia - Roswell

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/acfc2d5de270.jpg[/atsimg]

(Caption - Simulated Image)

The Roswell UFO Incident was the alleged recovery of an extra-terrestrial spacecraft, including its alien occupants, from an object that crashed in the general vicinity of Roswell, New Mexico, in June or July 1947. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and the subject of conspiracy theories as to the true nature of the object that crashed. The United States military maintains that what was actually recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named "Mogul";[1] however, many UFO proponents maintain that in fact an alien craft and its occupants were captured, and that the military then engaged in a cover up. The incident has turned into a widely known pop culture phenomenon, making the name Roswell synonymous with UFOs. It ranks as the most publicized and controversial of alleged UFO incidents.[2]

On July 8, 1947, Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) public information office in Roswell, New Mexico, issued a press release[3] stating that personnel from the field's 509th Bomb Group had recovered a crashed "flying disc" from a ranch near Roswell, sparking intense media interest. The following day, the press reported that Commanding General of the Eighth Air Force stated that, in fact, a radar-tracking balloon had been recovered by the RAAF personnel, not a "flying disc."[4] A subsequent press conference was called, featuring debris said to be from the crashed object, which seemed to confirm the weather balloon description.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3d8d14b04f55.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d1ce6a8ab87e.jpg[/atsimg]

In regard to this thread, i am also mainly posting off-site content as it is the most widely covered UFO topic in history. You have most likely made up your mind on this particular incident already and if you havent heard about it.... what rock have you been hiding under hehe


ufocasebook.com - Roswell in pictures




Further Wikipedia Information:

In 1978, nuclear physicist and author Stanton T. Friedman interviewed Jesse Marcel, the only person known to have accompanied the Roswell debris from where it was recovered to Fort Worth. Over the next few years, the accounts he and others gave elevated Roswell from a forgotten incident to perhaps the most famous UFO case of all time.[2]

By the early 1990s, UFO researchers such as Friedman, William Moore, Karl T. Pflock, and the team of Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt had interviewed several hundred people who had, or claimed to have had, a connection with the events at Roswell in 1947.[18] Additionally, hundreds of documents were obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests, as were some apparently leaked by insiders, such as the disputed "Majestic 12" documents.[19]

Their conclusions were that at least one alien craft had crashed in the Roswell vicinity, that aliens, some possibly still alive, were recovered, and that a massive cover-up of any knowledge of the incident was put in place.

Numerous books, articles, television specials and even a made-for-TV movie brought the 1947 incident fame and notoriety so that by the mid-1990s, strong majorities in polls, such as a 1997 CNN/Time poll, believed that aliens had visited earth and specifically that aliens had landed at Roswell and the government was covering up the fact.[20]

Wikipedia - Roswell

The Wikipedia link is very in-depth has alot of information which cover both side of the debate - Beleiver Vs Skeptic




Related Media:









UFOTV - Roswell






Hope you enjoy and i hope for some at least it has opened your eyes and given you some more information on the above subjects

Please share this thread as much as you can, information like this is so easily forgotten and needs to be looked at in more depth.


Yup this is a bump post and im off to bed now... it has been a long night with waay to many windows and tabs open... yawn.


I hope you found the above chapters interesting. I will be back tomorrow to reply

Great info. Definitely much to watch and read up on but S & F for sure.

Originally posted by Havick007
Chapter 1 - Early Beginnings....

Aurora, TX - April 17, 1897


So what really happened? Well unfortuantly we still do know for sure but this may have been an amazing and monumental event, the first known or recovered crash in US history.



In 1896 and 1897, reports of mysterious airships using powerful searchlights were being reported all over the United States, from California to Illinois. Hundreds of people reported seeing one of these airships in several counties in Texas. On Monday morning a little after 6 a.m., April 19, 1897, the airship crashed in Aurora on Judge James Spencer Proctor's place, destroying the windmill over his well along with the judge's flower garden. There was a big explosion, and debris was scattered over several acres. The airship pilot was nursed in a local barn but died that day.

Good thread except for the Aurora, TX story, it's been proven to be a hoax. S.E. Haydon, a stringer for the Dallas Morning News, who claimed to have invented the story in a vain attempt to put his dying community back on the map.

Aurora historian Etta Pegues provided her own take on the story: "It was all a hoax cooked up by [newspaper correspondent] Haydon and a bunch of men sitting around the general store," she wrote. She added that Haydon had a well-known reputation for telling tall tales. Some in the community, she added, suspected that Judge J.S. Proctor, owner of the property where the airship was said to have crashed, might actually have instigated the story.

reply to post by imitator


We have debated this before....havent we I re-posted this thread as i never got around to finishing it the first time round, plus i wanted to add extra content to Aurora and LA.


I havent seen 100% it was hoaxed though, it was specuation and opinion on the part of the historian and the previous mayor.

Although you may be right, for me personally i am yet to make a decision and still thought it was worth mentioning. Although to make the thread more objective i will add in some sources and links to the historians views on the case.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7f5f698c07b1.jpg[/atsimg]


Wikipedia - Hoax Theory

The hoax theory is primarily based on historical research performed by Barbara Brammer, a former mayor of Aurora. Her research (featured as part of the UFO Files episode on the incident) revealed that, in the months prior to the alleged crash, Aurora had been beset by a series of tragic incidents. First, the local cotton crop (the major source of town revenue) was destroyed by a boll weevil infestation. Second, a fire on the town's west side claimed several buildings and lives. Shortly after the fire, a spotted fever epidemic hit the town, nearly wiping out the remaining citizens and placing the town under quarantine. Finally, a planned railroad got within 27 miles of Aurora, but never made it into the town. Essentially, Aurora (which claimed nearly 3,000 residents at the time) was in serious danger of dying out; Brammer's research also showed that Haydon was known in the town to be a bit of a jokester, and her conclusion is that Haydon's article was a last-ditch attempt to keep Aurora alive.

The theory was further supported by the fact that Haydon never performed any sort of follow-up on the story, not even to report on the alien's burial, which is highly unusual given the significance of the event.

Further, in 1979 Time magazine interviewed Etta Pegues who claimed that Haydon had fabricated the entire story, stating that Haydon "wrote it as a joke and to bring interest to Aurora. The railroad bypassed us, and the town was dying."[3]

Location of Aurora, near Dallas, TexasPegues further claimed that Judge Proctor never operated a windmill on his property, a statement later refuted as part of the UFO Hunters episode.




UFO Hunters investigation On November 19, 2008,

UFO Hunters first aired another television documentary regarding the Aurora incident, titled "First Contact".

The documentary featured one notable change from the UFO Files story – Tim Oates, nephew of Brawley Oates and the now-owner of the property with the sealed well where the UFO wreckage was purportedly buried, allowed the investigators to unseal the well, in order to examine it for possible debris. Water was taken from the well which tested normal except for large amounts of aluminum present; the well had no significant contents. It was stated in the episode that any large pieces of metal had been removed from the well by a past owner of the property. Further, the remains of a windmill base were found near the well site, which refuted Ms. Pegues' statements (from the 1979 Time magazine article) that Judge Proctor never had a windmill on his property.

In addition, the Aurora Cemetery was again examined. Although the cemetery association still did not permit exhumation, using ground-penetrating radar and photos from prior visits, an unmarked grave was found in the area near other 1890's graves.[7][8] However, the condition of the grave was badly deteriorated, and the radar could not conclusively prove what type of remains existed.



Source - Wikipedia

The majority of information is on Wikipedia, although there are many other UFO related sites with the same info.
It was only ever really speculation by the people involved trying to claim it a hoax. As i said it may well have been a hoax but i dont see definitive proof of the hoax.

Originally posted by imitator

Originally posted by Havick007
Chapter 1 - Early Beginnings....

Aurora, TX - April 17, 1897


So what really happened? Well unfortuantly we still do know for sure but this may have been an amazing and monumental event, the first known or recovered crash in US history.



In 1896 and 1897, reports of mysterious airships using powerful searchlights were being reported all over the United States, from California to Illinois. Hundreds of people reported seeing one of these airships in several counties in Texas. On Monday morning a little after 6 a.m., April 19, 1897, the airship crashed in Aurora on Judge James Spencer Proctor's place, destroying the windmill over his well along with the judge's flower garden. There was a big explosion, and debris was scattered over several acres. The airship pilot was nursed in a local barn but died that day.

Good thread except for the Aurora, TX story, it's been proven to be a hoax. S.E. Haydon, a stringer for the Dallas Morning News, who claimed to have invented the story in a vain attempt to put his dying community back on the map.

Aurora historian Etta Pegues provided her own take on the story: "It was all a hoax cooked up by [newspaper correspondent] Haydon and a bunch of men sitting around the general store," she wrote. She added that Haydon had a well-known reputation for telling tall tales. Some in the community, she added, suspected that Judge J.S. Proctor, owner of the property where the airship was said to have crashed, might actually have instigated the story.

edit on 7-4-2011 by imitator because: (no reason given)

IDK, i remember wacthing a documentery on how they found metal inbeded on the tops of 100+ year old trees on the same soposed crash site and Trajectory.

they asked to remove the tree to examine it but the owner did not alow it.???? strange

reply to post by camaro68ss


Was that the UFO Files documentry?

I havent see that as yet, but it sounds similar to the UFO Hunters one with some minor differences. I just edited the above post to add some info from the UFO Hunters investigation. Apparently they found high Aluminum traces in the well near where the craft was allegedly buried.

I think this may be it, and although the title has Roswell in it, the topic covers Aurora. I will have to watch it properly later on today.

nice finds 007

However I don't think one needs 100% proof that Aurora was a hoax, when you have professional historians weighing in.

Barbara Brammer accurately tells you what happened in Aurora, it's not a theory, it's a fact. When spotted fever hit they burned down everything they thought was contaminated and threw out the left overs in graves and water wells, people where buried with their farms and homes...

Pegues further claimed that Judge Proctor never operated a windmill on his property, a statement later refuted as part of the UFO Hunters episode.

Etta Pegues was a professional historian.....never owned, and never operated have two different meanings, obviously UFO Hunters wants you to believe...The fact is they found junk that was thrown into the well, and that seems to match with Aurora's tragic history.

If you go to Aurora and see this headstone, it's not real....it is a marker at the supposed site of the the "spaceman's" grave. The original headstone was "supposedly" stolen, and that's if there was a headstone.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3ec6f7602c82.jpg[/atsimg]


2. The headstone engraving was probably a livestock branding mark, maybe a unknown cattle rancher buried with his branding mark on the headstone. It was a common thing to do of unknown cattle ranchers and herders.. Had it not been removed we could of traced who owned the brand! In 1897 each owner had to register his brand....then again the headstone could be much older than 1897, they where already making nice headstones slabs way before 1897, and those still hold up great to this day..
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7b29cc093703.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by camaro68ss


IDK, i remember wacthing a documentery on how they found metal inbeded on the tops of 100+ year old trees on the same soposed crash site and Trajectory.

they asked to remove the tree to examine it but the owner did not alow it.???? strange

edit on 7-4-2011 by camaro68ss because: (no reason given)

I seen that doc, could of been an old nail.

reply to post by imitator


Thanks for the supposed gravestone image, i didnt come across that lastnight

As i said i'm still undecided on it but thought it was worth adding to the thread as it a popular topic but at the same time not as widely know as some of the others.

I know i mentioned this in the last thread as well but in regard to the it being a publicity stunt to help keep the town alive. I could think of many other things that would have acheived that without creating a hoax. The town is still there today but i dont think the 1897 event helped either way in acheiving that.

reply to post by imitator


Just wanted to add an article from the Dallas observer back from 2003.

Heavenly Hoax - Texas town has its own brush with a UFO




Long before there was the riddle of Roswell, Texas had its own strange story of the crash of an unidentified flying object and the recovery of its pilot. It happened in the Wise County community of Aurora, west of Fort Worth--a decade before Orville and Henry Wright got their flimsy plane off the ground.


According to an account that appeared in The Dallas Morning News on April 19, 1897, "...early risers of Aurora were astonished at the sudden appearance of an airship...it sailed directly over the public square and when it reached the north part of town collided with the tower of Judge Proctor's windmill and went to pieces with a terrific explosion..."


--


And while generally relegated to the category of hoax, it has long fascinated the cosmic researchers. In 1973, Dallas Times Herald aviation writer Bill Case visited Aurora to launch his own investigation of the event, interviewing several old-timers. G.C. Curley, 98 at the time, assured the reporter that he and two of his boyhood friends had actually seen the crash site and the "torn up body" of the airship's pilot. Several others told him of hearing passed-along stories of the event.


--


In time, the exact location of the unmarked grave was forgotten and Aurora historian Etta Pegues provided her own take on the story: "It was all a hoax cooked up by [newspaper correspondent] Haydon and a bunch of men sitting around the general store," she wrote. She added that Haydon had a well-known reputation for telling tall tales. Some in the community, she added, suspected that Judge J.S. Proctor, owner of the property where the airship was said to have crashed, might actually have instigated the story.


Full Article - Dallas Observer

Etta Pegues sounds like a skeptic if you read the last paragraph of the article in the link.

Does she believe something actually crashed no more than 100 yards from where her daughter's gift shop now sits on the side of Highway 114? She smiles, shrugs and points to a 45-minute video produced and narrated by veteran conspiracy writer Jim Marrs. "It tells the whole story," she says. For only $19.95 plus tax.

Her comments seem more like a personal opinion rather than factual information.