Nebraska's own Roswell of 1884

[UM-Bot]

Very few people have heard of Max, Neb. A cursory look at the Google Map of the town shows just how small it is - under 20 blocks, a blip in southwest Nebraska. It's just eight miles from the seat of Dundy County: Benkelman, population 914.

But Max, the blip it may be, is the closest town to an incident in that occurred 1884.The Nebraska Nugget reported, "About 35 miles northwest of Benkelman, Dundy County, on the 6th of June (1884) a very startling phenomenon occurred.

View: Full Article | Source: Daily Nebraskan

[Carajbu]

That's odd, I just watched a show on the History Channel last night about Texas' Roswell of 1897.

It was the second UFO crash Buder knows of, and the first to be recorded in newspapers of the time. But once the story came out, it started a worldwide wave of similar stories - some more reputable than others.

I think these stories are interesting, hoaxes or not. Especially because this was a long time ago, even before Roswell itself. And I wonder why the author wrote this article considering the crash happened so long ago. Amazing how things will resurface.

Edited March 20, 2007 by Qarrah

[Katkandoo_kw]

wow that's odd, that you both found something within about 20 some years of each other about roswell like incidents

[brothers]

What ever happened to the pieces. Was it stored somewhere??? or did the Government take that as well.

[Gatofeo]

I would not place a lot of faith in any newspaper reports of the 19th century, especially the odd and unusual.

This was a time of numerous hoaxes, perpetrated to sell more issues.

Each town had a newspaper, so there were far more newspapers back then. If one broke an amazing story, the others --- rather than disputing it --- began reporting it as well, with their own elaboration.

This went on until the story got old or the readers grew wiser.

Could an extraterrestrial craft have crashed in Nebraska in 1884?

Well, anything's possible.

Could it have been hushed up almost immediately, with only a few newspaper accounts to reveal it?

I really don't see how.

People were more self sufficient back then, and pragmatic. Threats would have been resisted, with gunfire if necessary.

The parts would have required moving by train or ox wagons. This would hardly have been unnoticed.

Such an incident would have brought much notice by the locals, and spread rapidly. Quashing it would have been nearly impossible.

For these reasons, I have my doubts.