Aurora, Texas Airship Crash
Disputed local legend of a mystery airship crash in 1897
| Aurora, Texas Airship Crash | |
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| Date | April 17, 1897 |
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| Location | Aurora, Texas, U.S. |
| Type | Crash claim |
| Status | Debunked / Unverified |
A short item in the Dallas Morning News reported that an airship had crashed into a windmill in the small town of Aurora, destroying a garden and killing its pilot, who was said to be “not of this world” and buried in the local cemetery.
Assessment
Subsequent investigation, including 1970s-era UFO researcher visits and a later, inconclusive attempt to exhume the alleged grave, found no corroborating physical evidence. The story’s original author, a local rancher and part-time news correspondent, is widely believed by historians to have fabricated the item as a joke amid the wider Great Airship Wave of 1896-97, possibly also to draw attention away from a recent decline in the town’s fortunes.
[1]See also
References
- ^ Texas State Historical Association, “Aurora, TX (Wise County)” community history entry.