The 1897 Airship Cow Abduction

 

Back in the spring of 1897 the United States was obsessed with phantom airships. Tales came from across the nation involving unidentified flying machines, often piloted by strange individuals doing some strange stuff. In one tale out of Kansas, that strange stuff involved what some claim is the first modern connection between UFOs and cattle mutilations!

We've all seen the images of UFOs abducting cows, like the one shown above. While a popular trope in pop culture, the idea dates back to at least the strange case of Alexander Hamiliton from Kansas and his poor, unfortunate cow. 

On the night of April 17th, 1897, Alex Hamilton, a farmer in Woodson County, Kansas was awakened around 10:30pm by his cows making noise. Thinking it was a dog messing with them, he got up to check and was astounded to see an airship hovering over his field. The cigar-shaped craft was an estimated 300 feet in length with a glass paneled carriage hanging below it. It was a deep reddish color, and had three lights, including a red one, a green one, and a very bright white light that acted like a search beam. 

Hamilton went to get his son, Wall, and his hired hand Gid Heslip, and the three men grabbed axes from the barn and started to approach the craft, which was now hovering about 30 feet above the field. As they got closer, they noticed the inside area was well-lit. They could see six passengers, including two men, a woman, and three children, all speaking in an unintelligible jibberish. The men were able to get within 50 yards of the craft before a large turbine wheel, 30 feet in diameter started whirring and making noise.

The men noticed a 2-3 year old heifer was under the craft, and making quite a fuss, trying to jump over a barbed wire fence. They noticed that around the cow's neck was a thick chain, made from the same reddish material as the ship. They tried to cut it off, but when they couldn't, they instead cut the wire fence that the cow had become entangled in. Freed from the wire fence, the cow was now able to easily be carried off the airship into the great unknown.

The next morning, Link Thomas, a farmer in neighboring Coffey County found the hide, legs and head of a cow in his field. Thinking the cow had been poached and dumped, he contacted local authorities. Hamilton's brand was still visible on the hide. The remains found in Thomas' field were indeed the abducted heifer from the night before. 

Newspaper articles at the time made note that Hamilton was a very trustworthy, upstanding citizen. There was even a signed affidavit attesting to his character. And, for decades, this story remained a mystery. However, the 1960s and 1970s saw the beginning of a wave of modern cattle mutilation cases being tied to UFOs and this story was rediscovered by researchers. That's when the story started falling apart. 

A woman had come forward and claimed that she had heard Hamilton bragging to his wife about this made-up tale he had concocted and was going to report to newspapers. Then, a newspaper editor from Buffalo, Kansas uncovered the fact that Hamilton was a member of the Yuma Township's Liar's Club! As with other such clubs, the idea was for members to come up with the biggest, craziest stories they could. What's crazier than a phantom airship (which had a level of credibility as these things were being reported all over) abducting your cow? I mean, he had an affidavit signed by other trustworthy, prominent local citizens (whom I'm guessing were also in on the joke). 

Apparently, the club disbanded not long after, and honestly, I can't blame them. Tricking a nation into believing your cow had been abducted by people from Mars or Mercury certainly can't be beat. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Le Roy Cow Abduction: Spooky Valley Website

1897 Cow Abduction Hoax: How Stuff Works

30 April 1897
The Neosho Falls Post

12 Foot Tall Humanoids in West Virginia

From The Twilight Zone 
"To Serve Man"
This is what I see when I read the description, lol!

In 1897, the little West Virginia town of Ogden was in the midst of an oil and gas boom. Located in Wood County, Ogden quickly became home to numerous drill sites dotting the former farm lands. Tycoons, businessmen, investors...all would descend upon the town in order to try their hand at making a fortune. However, that spring, another type of visitor would also show up.

According to sources, on April 21, 1897 a man witnessed an astonishing sight. This unnamed man observed a well-lit aerial object land nearby. Out of the craft came eight creatures, each 11-12 feet tall with disproportionately large craniums. As luck would have it, these creatures spoke English, and told the man they were there, "exploring the planet." Further, they were observed eating small pills and 'drinking air.'  This crew remained in Ogden for about an hour before taking off again.

Okay, wow. That's quite a story! Unfortunately, that's all there currently is to it. Researcher Albert Rosales included this little blurb about a run-in with giant UFO occupants in his book, Humanoid Encounters and Others Among Us: 1 A.D.-1899. He cites HIS source as a book by Phillip  L. Rife called It Didn't Start with Roswell.  The case was also mentioned in Strange West Virginia Monsters, by Michael Newton, which is where I first heard it and began my (feeble) attempts to track down more information. 

Although all three books recount the exact same details, no more no less, Newton's book did offer a little insight into where this tale may have possibly come from. It seems as if, despite Rife's jumbled notes, the story most likely came from an article in the Parsons Advocate, a newspaper out of Tucker County, WV, located over 2 hours away, all the way across the state from Ogden. The article allegedly appeared in the April 23, 1897 edition, but neither Newton nor myself have been able to get ahold of an archival copy. 

So, I'll have to take Rife's word on it, I guess! But, I think there are some important things to consider when looking at the authenticity of the sighting. If we put away how much like an episode of Scooby Doo this reads as (shady oil and gas tycoons scaring off potential threats to their claims), there is some contemporary precedence for this event. 

While I haven't gotten a chance to read further than the free Google Books preview, Rife's work documents a huge number of both 'ufos' and encounters with the beings inside them dating from late 1896 into 1897. In fact, West Virginia was no stranger to this flap of reported 'phantom airships' that were seeming moving east across the United States during this time frame. 

On April 19, 1897, only TWO DAYS before this weird encounter, witnesses in Sistersville, WV reported seeing red, white, and green flashing lights in the sky. When observed through 'strong glasses,' witnesses could see an 180 foot, cone-shaped craft with fins on either side. It was seen for at least 20 minutes, but seemingly it never landed in that area. (Read Sistersville Phantom Airship)

Sistersville is only about 35 miles north of Ogden, both being right along the Ohio River and accessible via today's Route 2. Was the craft seen in Ogden the same one seen two days earlier only 35 miles north in Sistersville? Or, was the story made up, playing on the sheer number of other newspaper articles from various other locations all reporting weird phantom airships and/or strange humanoid encounters?

There's a good chance we'll never know just how true this story was...but one last thing to consider. Remember how I said Ogden was located in Wood County, West Virginia? Around 70 years later, Wood County would be the location of ANOTHER humanoid from a spaceship encounter...possibly one of the most famous in modern ufo history. In early November 1966, Woodrow Derenberger, returning home to Mineral Wells from a business trip in nearby Marietta, OH would meet a fellow who would call himself Indrid Cold. But, that story is for another day! 

Keep your eyes to the skies!