56 Nebraskaland • June 2022
he story went like this: A
"blazing aerolite" crashed near
Benkelman in the southwestern
corner of Nebraska. Local
cowboys found metal machinery
scattered over the prairie, but the
intense heat kept them from getting
too close. Returning the next day, they
found the remains of an object "about
50 or 60 feet long, cylindrical, and
about 10 or 12 feet in diameter."
That was how the Lincoln-based
Nebraska State Journal broke the news
on June 8, 1884, under the headline
"A CELESTIAL VISITOR." The article
provided additional details and names
of multiple witnesses. In a separate
column, the Journal said the machine
might be from another planet "unless
the alleged facts are greatly magnifi ed
or distorted."
Two days later, the Journal reported
even stranger news: The wreckage
had dissolved in a rainstorm and
disappeared entirely.
It sounded almost like something
from a Jules Verne story.
Over the years, there were multiple
searches for remains of the object, but
the Journal fi nally exposed the story
as a hoax in 1927. According to former
assistant editor Horace Hebbard, the
story was the invention of managing
editor James D. Calhoun, who seemed
to think it was a good joke.
Pat Gaster of History Nebraska
investigated the story behind the story
in 2013. "Newspaper hoaxes have
probably been around as long as there
have been newspapers," she wrote,
"but their popularity peaked during
the late 19th century. Journalists
sought to entertain as well as inform
readers — and fi ll space — with stories
that were wildly exaggerated and
sometimes complete fabrications."
Calhoun, Gaster said, was well
known for his humorous tales and
storytelling. (He once had a weekly
newspaper column called "Nothing
But Lies.") He apparently fi gured
that savvy readers would not fall for
obvious tall tales, and those who did
would make fools of themselves.
According to Hebbard, Calhoun's
"celestial visitor" story fooled at least
one of the Journal's own employees. A
man from the business offi ce quickly
boarded a train, hoping to bring home
wreckage to exhibit for a fee. "He
was disillusioned when he arrived at
Benkelman and found no one who had
heard anything about the thing."
N
Read Pat Gaster's complete article
at History Nebraska's website,
History.Nebraska.gov. Search "celestial
visitor."
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
Nebraska State Journal Building
at Ninth and P streets in Lincoln,
sometime after 1881. History
Nebraska RG2158-248
T
This photo of James D. Calhoun ran
with his obituary in the Nebraska State
Journal on July 18, 1915. Appropriately
for the portrait of a newspaper editor,
type is showing through from the
other side of the page.
Daily Nebraska State Journal,
June 8, 1884.
Southwest Nebraska'
