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It seems that Captain Hooton was hunting near Homan, Arkansas (no date is given for the incident) when he heard a familiar sound, ‘‘a sound for all the world like the workings of an air pump on a locomotive.” He walked in the direction of the sound and came upon an open field containing the magnificent airship. There was a medium-sized-looking man aboard and I noticed that he was wearing smoked glasses [sunglasses]. He was tinkering around what seemed to be the back end of the ship, and as I approached I was too dumbfounded to speak. He looked at me in surprise, and said, “Good day, sir; good day.” I asked, ‘‘Is this the airship?’ and he replied, “Yes, sir,” whereupon three or 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 front like the sharp edge of a knife; in fact, the entire front end of the ship terminated in a knife-like edge, while the sides of the ship bulged gradually toward the middle, and then receded. There were three large wheels upon each side made of some bending metal and arranged so that they became concave as they moved forward. “I beg pardon, sir,”’ I said. “‘The noise sounds a good deal like a Westinghouse air brake.’’ ‘‘Perhaps it does, my friend. We are using condensed air and aeroplanes, but you will know more later on.” “‘All ready, sir,’’ someone called out, when the party all disappeared below. I observed that just in front of each wheel a two-inch tube began to spurt air on the wheels and they commenced revolving. The ship gradually arose with a hissing sound. The aeroplanes [wings] suddenly sprang forward, turning their sharp edges skyward, then the rudders at the end of the ship began to veer to one side, and the wheels revolved so fast that one could scarcely see the blades. In less time than it takes to tell you, the ship had gone out of sight. There are many fascinating details in Captain Hooton’s narrative. Again and again in modern contactee stories we are told that the UFO occupants wear goggles or ordinary sunglasses, perhaps to hide distinctive Oriental eyes. Hooton was apparently told very little except that he would “know more later on.” His description of the craft makes it sound like a Rube Goldberg contraption, but rotating disks have been described on modern UFOs, too. And some equally strange-looking objects have apparently been sighted. Enough of these reports have now been uncovered so that we can safely assume that some of these airships did land and that, at least, bearded men were aboard them. Some researchers point to 1897 as proof 80 / Operation Trojan Horse