Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact - Above Top Secret

looking down, a description not unlike that given by Barney and Betty Hill. In March, an object ofeven stranger appearance was seen by Robert Hibbard, a farmer living fifteen miles north of SiouxCity, Iowa. Hibbard not only saw the airship, but an anchor hanging from a rope attached to themysterious craft caught his clothes and dragged him several dozen feet, until he fell back to earth.Presenting in an orderly fashion all the accounts of that period would itself fill a book. My objecthere is only to review the most detailed observations of the behavior of the airship's occupants onthe ground. But first, how did the object behave? It maneuvered very much in the way UFOs aresaid to maneuver, except that airships were never seen flying in formation or performing aerialdances. Usually, an airship flew rather slowly and majestically – of course, such an object in 1897ran no risk of being pursued – except in a few close-proximity cases when it was reported to depart"as a shot out of a gun." Another difference from modern UFOs lies in the fact that its leisurelytrajectory often took it over large urban areas. Omaha, Milwaukee, Chicago, and other cities werethus visited; each time, large crowds gathered to watch the object. Otherwise, the airship exhibitedall the typical activities of UFOs: hovering, dropping "probes" – on Newton, Iowa, on April 10, forexample – changing course abruptly, changing altitude at great speed, circling, landing and takingoff, sweeping the countryside with powerful light beams.The occupants of the airship were as variously described as are UFO operators. Several reportscould be interpreted to mean that dwarfs were among them, but it was not stated in so many wordsby witnesses. Alexander Hamilton says that the beings were the strangest he had ever seen and thathe did not care to see them again.The UFO's operators who engaged in discussion with human witnesses were indistinguishable fromthe average American population of the time. This, for instance, is the experience related by CaptainJames Hooton (described in the Arkansas Gazette as "the well-known Iron Mountain railroadconductor"):I had gone down to Texarkana to bring back a special, and knowing that I would have someeight to ten hours to spend in Texarkana, I went to Homan (Arkansas) to do a little hunting.It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon when I reached that place. The spot was good, and before Iknew it, it was after 6 o'clock when I started to make my way back toward the railroadstation. As I was tramping through the bush my attention was attracted by a familiar sound, asound for all the world like the working of an air pump on a locomotive.I went at once in the direction of the sound, and there in an open space of some five or sixacres, I saw the object making the noise. To say that I was astonished would but feeblyexpress my feelings. I decided at once that this was the famous airship seen by so manypeople about the country.There was a medium-size looking man aboard and I noticed that he was wearing smokedglasses. He was tinkering around what seemed to be the back end of the ship, and as Iapproached I was too dumbfounded to speak. He looked at me in surprise, and said: "Goodday, sir; good day." I asked: "Is this the airship?" And he replied: "Yes, sir," whereupon threeor four other men came out of what was apparently the keel of the ship.A close examination showed that the keel was divided into two parts, terminating in frontlike the sharp of a knife-like edge, while the side of the ship bulged gradually toward themiddle, and then receded. There were three large wheels upon each side made of somebending metal and arranged so that they became concave as they moved forward."I beg your pardon, sir," I said, "the noise sounds a great deal like a Westinghouse air brake.""Perhaps it does, my friend: we are using condensed air and aeroplanes, but you will knowmore later on.""All ready, sir," someone called out, when the party all disappeared below. I observed thatjust in front of each wheel a two-inch tube began to spurt air on the wheels and theycommenced revolving. The ship gradually arose with a hissing sound. The aeroplanessuddenly sprang forward, turning their sharp end skyward, then the rudders at the end of theship began to veer to one side and the wheel revolved so fast that one could scarcely see the