A research project dedicated to preserving the cultural history of the Aurora Legend, exploring the facts, fiction, and folklore of a Texas legend from 1897! The Aurora Legend has been officially recognized by a historical landmark for nearly half a century and is one of the most publicized stories of an otherworldly encounter. While mostly considered to be a hoax, a newspaper yarn or fake news of the time, there has been a lot of media publicity and research into this historic story. This project serves as an encyclopedia database for all possible information and research about the legend, including its history, investigations, and media. The menu, links, and search functions can help with finding specific or additional resources. The contact section can be used for submissions and questions or for anyone interested in making a contribution.

“This site is also well-known because of the legend that a spaceship crashed nearby in 1897 and the pilot, killed in the crash, was buried here.”
Aurora Cemetery Historical Landmark, Marker Number 240,
Texas Historical Commission, 1976

A Windmill Demolishes It.

Aurora, Wise Co., Tex., April 17.-(To The News.)-About 6 o’clock this morning the early risers of Aurora were astonished at the sudden appearance of the airship which has been sailing through the country.
It was traveling due north, and much nearer the earth than ever 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 directly over the public square, and when it reached the north part of town collided with the tower of Judge Proctor’s windmill and went to pieces with a terrific explosion, 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 on board, and while his remains are badly disfigured, enough of the original has been picked up to show that he was not an inhabitant of this world.
Mr. T. J. Weems, the United States signal service officer at this place and an authority on astronomy, gives it as his opinion that he was a native of the planet Mars.
Papers found on his person-evidently the record of his travels-are written in some unknown hieroglyphics, and can not be deciphered.
The ship was too badly wrecked to form any conclusion as to its construction or motive power. It was built of an unknown metal, resembling somewhat a mixture of aluminum and silver, and it must have weighed several tons.
The town is full of people to-day who are viewing the wreck and gathering specimens of the strange metal from the debris. The pilot’s funeral will take place at noon to-morrow.

S. E. HAYDON.

Origins of the Legend

On April 19th, 1897, an article from Aurora, Texas in Wise County appeared in the Dallas Morning News titled “A Windmill Demolishes It.“, and authored by S. E. Haydon. “It” being the the “airship“, which seemed to be a social sensation about an aerial anomaly at the time, is stated as having crashed into Judge J. S. Proctor‘s windmill and water tower with a well. Strange metal was said to have been recovered from the debris, supposedly weighing tons and scattered for several acres. The remains of a deceased “pilot” – “not an inhabitant of this world” – who was given a funeral and buried in the local cemetery. The original article was published on the 19th but conveys events from April 17th, 1897 in Aurora, Texas. The story remained mostly dormant for a few decades other talk amongst locals and travelers, until it came back into public awareness in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s due to authors publishing material about airship reports as well as other media publications with writers looking into the story. There is a Texas Historical Commission marker at the entrance to the Aurora Cemetery recognizing the “legend” , in addition to the current headstone of the “pilot’s grave“, with a monument nearby the “crash site“. It has been recognized in a number of ways throughout the years, along with being featured on multiple shows on the History Channel. A widely publicized media spectacle (especially in the 1970’s), and reproduced in various forms of multimedia (including a movie). With its origins in the Great Airship Mystery of the late 1800’s, the strange story is considered a notable historic case within modern studies on reports of UFO phenomena and alleged accounts of aliens. The city of Aurora has held varying official and unofficial stances regarding the utilization of the legend throughout the years, although there have been times with the imagery associated with the story of have been used for marketing and commercial purposes. Many have come to know of the town’s “mascot” “Ned“, and nearly four-hundred people were able to attend the first (and maybe only) ever Aurora Alien Encounter event. The legend has garnered attention from all over the world, thanks to the internet, and many make the journey to experience Aurora, Texas for themselves.

Aurora – A Texas Legend from 1897