What happened
During the great airship wave, on April 23, 1897, the “Farmer’s Advocate” newspaper of Yates Center published an account by farmer Alexander Hamilton. He claimed that on the night of April 19–20 a cigar-shaped airship with a glass carriage, in which he saw “six of the strangest beings,” hovered over his farmyard. The craft supposedly threw a rope around the neck of a calf caught in a fence and flew off with it. The next day a neighbor reportedly found the animal’s hide, legs, and head in his field. Printed below the article was a statement by a dozen or so local notables – officials, a doctor, and a banker – vouching for Hamilton’s truthfulness. The story spread through the press of the United States and Europe.
Witnesses
Alexander Hamilton, his son, and a hired hand; the account was attested by the signatures of local notables from Woodson County.
Explanations and hypotheses
In the 1970s researchers established that the whole story had been a joke. Hamilton belonged to a local “liars’ club” whose members competed in making up the most outlandish tales, and according to relatives and neighbors he later admitted to the hoax himself. The notables who signed the statement were probably in on the joke and gladly joined in.
Hoax A proven or admitted hoax.