THE FIRST FLYING
SAUCER
“HENRY WHAT’S THAT UP
THERE?”
“I DON’T KNOW, BUT IT SURE
AIN’T NO AIRPLANE.”
“WHAT YOU FOLKS LOOKEN
AT?”
“SEE THAT LIGHT UP THERE
JUMPING AROUND.”
“OH YEAH, NOW I SEE IT.
WHAT IS IT?”
“LOOK OUT HENRY, GET OUT OF
THE ROAD. HERE COMES ANOTHER CAR.”
“IT’S OK, HE’S STOPPING
TOO.”
“HAS THERE BEEN A WRECK?
WHY ARE ALL THESE CARS STOPPED HERE ON THE SIDE OF THE
HIGHWAY?’
“NO, AIN’T NO WRECK, WE WAS
JUST WATCHING THAT LIGHT UP THERE.”
“HENRY, I’M SCARED. I’M
GETTING BACK IN THE CAR.”
“ALRIGHT, HELEN, YOU GO GET
IN THE CAR. I’M STAYING OUT HERE WHERE I CAN SEE WHAT THAT
THING IS DOING.”
“I’M GOING TO CALL THE
POLICE. THEY SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS.”
“AW, WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY
CAN DO ABOUT IT?”
“I DON’T KNOW BUT THERE’S
18 CARS STOPPED HERE NOW AND THEY CAN AT LEAST DIRECT
TRAFFIC.”
IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE
EVERYONE HEARD THE SIREN ON THE POLICE CAR COMING FROM THE
DIRECTION OF TOWN. THEN THE POLICE CAR TOPPED THE LITTLE HILL
HALF MILE AWAY AND THEY COULD SEE THE RED LIGHT FLASHING.
AS THE POLICE CAR SKIDDED
TO A STOP, A TEXAS STATE HIGHWAY PATROLMAN JUMPED OUT AND RAN
UP TO THE CROWD STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY.
“WHERE’S THE WRECK? IS
ANYONE HURT?”
“AIN’T NO WRECK, OFFICER.”
“ JUST THAT MYSTERIOUS LIGHT UP THERE IN THE SKY.”
DAD AND ART DECIDED IT WAS
TIME TO STOP THIS SHOW AND LAY LOW FOR AWHILE.
MAYBE I SHOULD START AT THE
BEGINNING OF THIS STORY SO YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING
ON.
IT WAS 1940 AND I WAS SEVEN
YEARS OLD. MY FRIEND JUNIOR DEAN AND I WANTED A KITE. OUR
DAD’S HAD MADE US EACH A KITE AND WE WERE OUT IN FRONT OF
JUNIOR’S HOUSE FLYING THEM. DAD AND ART (JUNIOR’S DAD) WHERE
SITTING ON THE DEAN’S FRONT PORCH WATCHING US.
“LOOKS LIKE THE BOYS ARE
HAVING FUN WITH THOSE KITES WE MADE FOR THEM.” ART SAID.
“LOT’S OF PEOPLE THINK THERE IS NOTHING TO MAKING A KITE, BUT
IF YOU DON’T MAKE EVERYTHING JUST RIGHT ABOUT IT, IT WON’T FLY
RIGHT.” DAD SAID. ‘YEAH I KNOW. HOW BIG A KITE YOU EVER
BUILD?” ART WANTED TO KNOW. DAD TOLD HIM, “NOT VERY BIG I
SUPPOSE, BUT IT WOULD BE THE SAME TO BUILD A BIG ONE AS A
LITTLE ONE.”
IT WAS GETTING CLOSE TO
SUNDOWN SO JUNIOR AND I WOUND IN OUR KITES AND PUT THEM AWAY.
ART AND DAD HAD GONE INSIDE AND WERE PLAYING DOMINOES WITH
MOTHER AND MRS. DEAN WHEN JUNIOR AND I WENT INTO THE HOUSE.
DAD AND ART WERE STILL
TALKING ABOUT BUILDING A REALLY BIG KITE. DAD WAS SAYING IT
SHOULD BE AT LEAST SIX FEET TALL. WOW, I THOUGHT, THAT WOULD
BE A REALLY BIG KITE. I DON’T KNOW IF I COULD HOLD ONTO ONE
THAT BIG. IT MIGHT PULL ME RIGHT UP OFF THE GROUND. JUNIOR
AND I WENT ON INTO HIS ROOM TO PLAY, AS THE GROWN UPS PLAYED
DOMINOES.
THAT NIGHT ART AND DAD
DECIDED THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE A BIG KITE. EVERY EVENING
AFTER SUPPER FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK THEY WENT TO ART’S WORK
SHOP AND WORKED ON THEIR KITE. FINALLY ON FRIDAY EVENING THEY
BROUGHT OUT THEIR KITE FOR A TEST FLIGHT. IT WAS
MAGNIFICENT. IT WAS COVERED WITH BLACK PAPER AND HAD A TAIL
18 FEET LONG. IT WAS 8 FEET TALL AND THE CROSS BAR WAS 6 FEET
LONG. THEY HAD 300 YARDS OF TROT LINE CORD TO FLY HER WITH.
BY THE TIME THEY GOT
EVERYTHING READY FOR THE TEST FLIGHT IT WAS ALREADY SUN DOWN.
MOM ASKED THEM HOW THEY WERE GOING TO SEE THAT BLACK KITE UP
THERE IN THE AIR AFTER DARK? DAD AND ART HADN’T THOUGH OF
THAT. AS THEY STOOD THERE TALKING ABOUT THIS, JUNIOR RAN IN
HIS HOUSE AND CAME BACK WITH A LITTLE 2 CELL FLASH LIGHT.
“WHY DON’T YOU TIE THIS TO THE TAIL AND THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE
TO SEE WHERE THE KITE IS.” “SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA TO ME.”
SAYS MY DAD. SO THEY TIED THE FLASH LIGHT TO THE END OF THE
KITES TAIL AND TURNED IT ON.
IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE THEY
HAD THE KITE UP IN THE AIR AND FLYING AT THE END OF 300 YARDS
OF LINE. THERE WAS NO MOON AND IT WAS A DARK NIGHT. YOU
COULDN’T SEE THE BLACK KITE BUT YOU COULD SEE THAT LITTLE
FLASH LIGHT JUMPING AND WAVING AROUND UP THERE IN THE SKY.
THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND
HAD THE KITE FLYING RIGHT OVER HIGHWAY 80, WHICH IN 1939 WAS
ONLY A TWO LANE BLACKTOP INSTEAD OF AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY.
THE LITTLE FLASH LIGHT WAS THE LIGHT IN THE SKY THAT STOPPED
ALL THE TRAFFIC.
THE NEXT DAY, THE
GLADEWATER NEWS PAPER HAD A BIG HEAD
LINE ON THE FRONT PAGE. “UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT
SEEN IN SKY OVER EAST TEXAS” AFTER READING THAT STORY ART AND
DAD DECIDED IT WOULD BE WISE TO TAKE THEIR KITE APART AND
NEVER FLY IT AGAIN.
HOW EVER THAT WAS NOT THE
END OF THAT KITE. THE NEXT YEAR…….BUT THAT’S A WHOLE NOTHER
STORY FOR A DIFFERENT TIME.
BY
LOREN
MOORE
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