Ned – The Aurora Alien

And the story goes….

There were several sightings of a “great airship” around Texas, in the spring of 1897. At least one of these flying crafts was reported to have crashed in Aurora, on April 17, 1897. The tall tale reports a “airship” crashing into Judge Proctor’s windmill and bursting into flames. Among the wreckage, Aurora residents found the disfigured remains of an alien creature. The alien, we now call “Ned,” was given “a proper christian burial” in the local Aurora Cemetery.

A newspaper article of the event still exists. Please refer to the front page of the original Dallas Morning News (below) for the article written by S. E. Haydon, a reporter for the newspaper.Dallas Morning News. Excerpts from the article include the following information:

“About 6 o’clock this morning the early risers of Aurora were astonished at the sudden appearance of the airship which has been sailing around the country. It was traveling due north and much nearer the earth than before.”

“Evidently some of the machinery was out of order, for it was making a speed of only ten or twelve miles an hour, and gradually settling toward the earth. It sailed over the public square and when it reached the north part of town it collided with the tower of Judge Proctor’s windmill and went into pieces with a terrific explosion, scattering debris over several acres of ground, 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 aboard and, while his remains were badly disfigured, enough of the original has been picked up to show that he was not an inhabitant of this world.”

The original front page of the Dallas Morning News, April 19, 1897. This was provided to us by “Alien Agenda” author, Jim Marrs. Mr. Marrs pointed out, there are multiple stories associated with “flying object sightings” covering the front page.