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if he knew their address, he would have the whole crew arrested for violating the fish law, for the light reflected so strongly on the lake that it was no trouble for the occupants’ to pick out the biggest and best fish in the lake with a long-handled spear. Just before daylight, the ship sailed off toward the city. The whir of machinery was plainly discernible for several moments. It sounds as if Megiveron were pulling somebody’s leg, or maybe the editor of the Republican was doing it for him. The editor of the Daily Chronicle, Muskegon, Michigan, may have been doing some leg pulling, too, with this next item, published on April 30. But there is also a chance that he may have taken a real report and added a few touches. It’s difficult to decide: Last night at 11:30 this town [Holton] received a visit from the wonderful airship. It came from the north and descended till it was about 200 feet from the ground, directly over the bridge. It was lighted with electricity and loaded with revellers who were making a good deal of noise. The music was entrancing, the like of which never was heard in this place. It wasn’t long before everybody was on the street to look and listen, many in their nightclothes. Not a few thought the Judgment Day had come. It was about 300 feet long, tail about 40 feet. Its breadth and depth about 90 feet. It stayed fifty-five minutes. Its tail commenced whirling and it moved off toward Fremont. But just as it began to move, a grappling hook was let down and caught one of our most truthful citizens who was instantly hoisted on board and carried away. The truthful citizen came back on the 11:30 train from White Cloud and has been talking ever since about aerial navigation. Such hoary tales provided comedy relief during the flap. The news- papers generally took the matter lightly when the stories first started to appear, making wry comments about the quality of the whiskey in the flap areas, etc. But as the reports poured in and the objects began to appear over the cities where the skeptical newspapers were based, the tone of the published reports grew more serious. Something strange was going on, and the more responsible newspapers began to wonder what it was really all aba all about. One of the most celebrated cases of the period, the story of Alexander Hamilton’s cow, has been widely reprinted in practically every UFO book extant, and we will therefore just summarize it here. Hamilton claimed that he and his family saw a cigar-shaped object swoop down over his The Grand Deception / 75