What Crashed into a Windmill in North Texas in 1897

When we aren’t looking into popular crime, Heather and I examine some of the stranger phenomena that occur in our world, many of which are disappearances. But some times, these events defy explanation, without any direct connection to law breaking. We like to call these kinds of cases…Modern Mysteries

Aurora Texas is a small community 50 or so miles west north west of Dallas. The town is located in Wise County, a rapidly growing, but still very rural part of the state. But the close proximity to Dallas meant the story I am going to share with you received a fair amount of coverage through the years. Let’s look at an article published in the Dallas Morning News on April 19th, 1897

Aurora, Wise County, Texas, April 17th, About 6 o'clock this morning, the early risers of Aurora were astonished at the sudden appearance of the airship which has been sailing through the country.

It was traveling due north and much nearer the earth than ever before. Evidently, some of the machinery was out of order, for it was making a speed of only 10 or 12 miles per hour and gradually settling toward the earth. 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 scattering debris over several acres of ground and wrecking the windmill and water tank and destroying the judge's flower garden.

The pilot of the ship is supposed to have been the only one on board, and while his remains are badly disfigured, enough of the original has been picked up to show that he was not an inhabitant of this world.

What makes this case really interesting to me is the claim that this was the 19th century equivalence of fake news, specifically, that S.E. Haydon made up the whole thing as a means of drawing people to tiny little Aurora. One account that notes this is likely a hoax is that there was never a follow up report by Haydon. But I think that assumes people of the late 19th century were eager for more reporting, or that the editors of the Dallas Morning News would even want more news like this. So this requires some mind-reading as to why Haydon never followed up.

Likewise, we are so far removed that physical evidence is non-existent. One report as shared by a group called the Mutual UFO Network shared that some of the wreckage was recovered, with a terrible outcome for the man who brought the property in 1935. Quoting now:

Adding to the mystery was the story of Mr. Brawley Oates, who purchased Judge Proctor's property around 1945. Oates cleaned out the debris from the well in order to use it as a water source, but later developed an extremely severe case of arthritis, which he claimed to be the result of contaminated water from the wreckage dumped into the well. As a result, Oates sealed up the well with a concrete slab and placed an outbuilding atop the slab. (According to writing on the slab, this was done in 1957.)

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[TheSourKraut]

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