Cowboys and Aliens: Did Aliens visit the Old West?

In late March 1897, around seven years before the Wright Brothers undertook their first controlled flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, airships were in the news after several hundred residents of Missouri, Kansas claimed to witness a strange sight as a huge airship hovered over farms, ranches and small towns in a three state area. Reportedly it swept a huge searchlight along the ground and terrified residents who witnessed this strange event. The story made the local Kansas Newspapers but then went national and then worldwide.

The story would have died a death, many were sceptical but then on 1st April 1897 (April Fools day, don't forget) Alexander Hamilton,a  farmer from LeRoy, Kansas claimed that the air machine had hovered over his farm and one of his cows had been sucked up into the machine. Later cow parts were discovered in a three mile radius.

That same night as many as 10,000 witnesses would give statements to the press about the airship. It was said to have flown over Kansas City, going through a series of erratic manoeuvres. Some witnesses even claimed that the airship was the planet, Venus...one man told the Kansas City Times that, 'Venus does not dodge around, fly swiftly to the horizon, swoop rapidly towards the ground and then fly away to be lost in the Southern sky.'

From descriptions given to the newspapers the aircraft seemed to be - shaped like an Indian canoe with a basket some 25 to 30 feet in length. Four light wings extended from the basket and these wings were triangular with a giant bag, thought to be a gas balloon, above the basket. The craft had powerful lights that lit up the night sky  it was said that these lights were as bright as those of a locomotive.

This started the world's first UFO scare and in the weeks following the aircraft was reported all over the United States. When it was spotted in Michigan, observers claimed to have heard human voices coming from the machine. On April 6th it was spotted over Omaha and more than six hundred people made statements to the press. The craft was also spotted in Iowa where a farmer claimed a drag rope had come from the craft, hooked his trousers and carried him several hundred feet before dropping him to the ground. Speculation in the press became widespread - one theory being that the craft was a new invention, piloted by American astronauts who were testing the commercial validity of the machine. Cattle rustling was, of course, denied.

There were yet more sightings of the strange craft - The Kansas City Free Press reported that, 'the airship is not of this world, but it is likely operated by a party of scientists from the planet, Mars who are out on a tour of the universe for scientific study.'

Whatever the truth of the story it remains one of the most enduring mysteries of the Old West.

Little Green Men report 1110998877665

I found the link to this article on Bill Crider's pop culture blog, and even although it comes from The Daily Mail newpaper I thought I'd post it here as it is of interest to Archive readers - least it's one of those Earth visited by little green men stories,that we enjoy. Mind you if aliens did ever visit Earth it is a safe bet that the Daily Mail would be concerned about them claiming benefits and overloading an NHS not geared up for treating aliens. Before we know it we would be overrun by little green men taking all our jobs and council houses. You'd have little green homeless men spoiling our parks and stealing our women - once you've had green you ain't ever going back.

From the Daily Mail - A mysterious circle on a grainy scan, this is what scientists are claiming is finally evidence that Earth has been visited by aliens.
Researchers have claimed the fuzzy outline is a flying saucer that ended up 300ft down on the ocean floor between Sweden and Finland.
They were stunned when sonar scans taken while searching for a century-old wreck showed up the shape against the dirt.

The ocean exploration team which found it claims that the earth around the craft has been scarred, suggesting it has tried to move around.
Lead researcher Peter Lindberg also suggested that another explanation could be that it was 'a new Stonehenge'.

The 'discovery' has sparked a flurry of speculation by UFO watchers and bloggers.
Some have even suggested it resembles the Millennium Falcon from the Star Wars series, with its distinctive front forks and round shape.
Newspapers in Sweden have put the story on their front pages and asked if this is really the first sign of extra-terrestrial life.
The shape was found at the bottom of the Gulf of Bothnia during a search for a sunken wreck which contained several cases of champagne.

Check out the original article including a video HERE