Classic Case : 1897 Calf-napping case (Alexander Hamilton)

Classic Case: As part of a project I'm currently finalising relating to the most frequently discussed UFO cases of all time, I’ve been collating links to discussions of the relevant cases on ATS. I could not find any threads relating to some of those cases so decided to quickly start a few of them, including this one:


An alleged airship encounter involving attempted calf-napping on the ranch of Alexander Hamilton at Le Roy, Kansas (sometimes referred to as LeRoy, Kansas) during 1897 is discussed on various websites – including The Temporal Doorway.

That webpage gives a summary of the relevant report, which includes the following:

Le Roy, Kansas, 1897: "Last monday night, about 10:30" wrote Mr. Hamilton, "we were awakened by a noise among the cattle. I arose, thinking that perhaps my bulldog was performing some of his pranks, but upon going to the door saw to my utter astonishment an airship slowly descending upon my cow lot, about forty rods from the house.

This incident (widely regarded as a hoax) is also discussed in numerous UFO books, including the following:

• A 11 page discussion by Daniel Cohen in “The Great Airship Mystery” (1981) at pages 92-102 of the Dodd Mead hardback edition (in Chapter 7 generally, “The Great Kansas Cownapping”).
  
  
• A 5 page discussion by Ronald Story in his “UFOs and the Limits of Science” (1981) at pages 33-37 (Chapter 1) of the NEL Hardback edition.
  
  
• A 4 page discussion by Jerome Clark in his “The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning - 2nd edition” (1998) in Volume 1:A-K at pages 101-102 (forming part of the entry entitled “Animal Mutilations an UFOs” at pages 102-120), 504-505 (forming part of an entry entitled “Hoaxes” at pages 504-519) of the Omnigraphics hardback edition.
  

Kind Regards,

Isaac Koi

Heres why its widely considered a hoax.

the editor of the paper in which the yarn first appeared recalled that Hamilton and a few others were joking around in the newspaper office one afternoon and came up with the cow story.

The Amazing Airship of 1896



[edit on 1/14/08 by makeitso]

Greetings Isaac, et al,

My apologies for not getting back to you re our previous dialogue, I'll give you the details in a day or so.

Heres why its widely considered a hoax.

In regards to the "Airship Phenomenon" of 1896-'97 . . . no doubt there were some hoaxes involved; however, what became an "international spectacle" was "short on hoax" and long on "extraordinary!"

These events began in Sacramento, and having done a great deal of research on the subject I can say with authority that the townsfolk saw a UFO (in the verbatim); personally, I believe what was witnessed in Sacramento, and then later in San Francisco, as well as other parts of the Bay Area was indeed an "Airship" The technology had been around for decades and test-flights were performed (in Burlingame [Bay Area]) as early as 1859.

Initially, the Sacramento papers poo-poohed the sightings . . . that is until they became to numerous, and to many "reputable citizens reported seeing the strange craft.

While the sightings were occurring in Sacramento, the San Francisco and Oakland papers were having a hey-day, stating that Sacramentans were spending to much time in the opium dens, and or "pulling the cork to often."

Their tone would change as well, once the contrivance appeared over their cities.

Here is an article from the San Francisco Call dated , Nov 22, 1896.

Cheers,
Frank
Knowledge is Power