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

More Weird UFO Dreams

10,000 Volt Ghost from
Scooby Doo

I mentioned it briefly on my Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook page, but if you don't follow me on there or are new to my spooky gang, then you may have missed that early last November, I had to have emergency gallbladder removal surgery. The surgery went fine and I quickly bounced back into the swing of things. However, around this time, I had a series of strange dreams involving UFOs and/or alien abduction. I've been hesitant to share them publicly, mainly because I realize that there's probably nothing to them. I'm known for having really lucid, vivid, and WEIRD dreams, but for some reason I can't fully explain, I felt compelled to share them. Perhaps someone out there has had similar dreams and needs to know they aren't alone. Maybe someone else just needs a good laugh at the strange crap my mind comes up with. Either way, here goes:

On the night of November 3, I had went to bed fairly early. I had my car all packed up and was ready to head to Chief Logan State Park the next morning, where I had a vendor table reserved with Wild and Weird Con. I had to leave early, so I wanted to make sure I was fully rested. I had only been asleep for about 2.5 or 3 hours when I woke up at 1am gasping for air. This sudden awakening pulled me out of the dream I was having. I don't remember the 'beginning' of the dream. All I remember is that I was in this nondescript sort of space, which was white or gray and didn't have any corners. Two...beings? people?...were supporting me on either side and I kept telling them I couldn't breath. I don't remember them being much taller than me, or much shorter either...just around the same height as me. They took me to this third being, who I swear, looked like a gray version of the 10,000 Volt Ghost from Scooby Doo. This thing didn't have facial features. I don't think it was FURRY, but its outline was kinda choppy and non-defined. It was humanoid shaped, but shaped more like the 10,000 Volt Ghost, with no discernable neck area and a body that went straight down without tapering at the waist. I perceived it as being above or in charge of the two beings supporting me. 

One of the beings supporting me told this thing that something was wrong with me. He (I perceived both of these to be male) sounded panicky and I felt like they had done something to me that went wrong.  I didn't hear the 10,000 Volt Ghost's reply audibly, but more telepathically. It simply told them to send me back NOW. 

As soon as he said that is when I woke up, gasping for air because I was in so much pain. My husband took me to the ER and as soon as the doctor saw how I was sitting, he pretty much knew I was having a gallbladder attack. Scans and bloodwork confirmed that I had gallstones, and that one was most likely lodged in a duct. Within an hour of getting all the tests back, I was being wheeled back to the OR to have my gallbladder removed. It was a simple procedure, and I was released from the hospital around 3:30pm that afternoon. 

That following night, I had another strange dream. I was 'taken' to this space that once again, was that same whitish or gray color, but it was more...lively. It seemed very busy in this space, with lots of people around. I was told to go sit in this area that looked a lot like a combination of a restaurant booth AND one of those 1970's era recessed seating areas people had in their dens. There was someone already there and I had the impression that we were being grouped together in this particular area because there was something the same or similar about us and our reason for being there. I was quite surprised when this person turned around and it was Ozzy Osbourne! I was even more surprised that he seemed to recognize me, as if we'd been in this situation before. That thought was 'confirmed' when he patted me on the shoulder and in a somewhat sad tone of voice said, "The bloody bastards got us again, didn't they love?"  I don't remember anything happening after that, but I don't think it's because I woke up. The dream just stopped. The next day as I was napping, I had another dream snippet. I was in this HUGE elevator with a bunch of other people. This elevator was like, the size of a large room and if you wanted to ride it, you walked into it, and fastened yourself into these little stalls against the back wall. I remember getting on this elevator, but not knowing where it was going. And that's all I remember.

It's unusual for me to have such short dreams. Usually, my dreams feel rather long, as whole story lines play out. Often, I'll wake up and go back to sleep, only to have the same dream keep continuing. It might change direction, but rarely do I ever have a dream just stop. What isn't unusual is the subject matter. This isn't the first time I've had similar dreams of being in this or a similar location, often accompanied by a feeling that I was taken or forced to be there. In fact, the elevator dream is a recurring one. My entire life I've had a bunch of different types of dreams that some might say could be indicative of a potential alien abduction, the most disturbing ones being the dreams where I'm either forced to take care of a bunch of babies or small children, or the ones where my own baby is taken from me after its born. Aside from the dreams, I've had some other experiences that have really made me want to question and research the abduction theory further. I don't necessarily want to get into all the stuff publicly, but I have mentioned before that whenever I take one of those silly little 'Have you been abducted' surveys, I check off about 90% of the boxes. 

Anyway, for full disclosure, I WAS getting ready to attend a paranormal conference when the one dream happened and the other two happened while I was still pretty well under the influence of pain killers. Not to mention, I had recently been taking a deep dive into researching the subject of abduction, but had largely put it off because reading others' accounts actually started making me have panic attacks. During the first dream, my husband was awake beside me the whole time and can confirm that I didn't physically go anywhere. So, the skeptic in me wants to just dismiss it all as simple dreams influenced by the factors around me. However, there's a small part of me that just FEELS like some of it, maybe not ALL, but some of it just might be more significant in some way. I hope that by sharing it, not only will it help me to process it and think about my experiences more critically, but perhaps reach someone else who has had similar dreams that may just be more than dreams. One day I might feel comfortable sharing some of the other weird 'abduction-type' stuff I've experienced, but until then, stay spooky y'all!