Local Articles
Iron County incidents reported by the Mountain Echo Newspaper
Thursday, April 5. 1973Annapolis has now been put on the scene for the sighting of the UFO. Local residents have told the Mt. Echo that something has been seen at night at the Highway 49 road shed, the saw mill, at Barne's Grocery, at Des Arc Mountain and at Seven Lakes at Des Arc. It has also been said to be seen hovering over the 1st Nat'l. Bank of Annapolis building in the center of the village. Some say it is the U.S. gov't. experimenting with a new type of detecting equipment since it has appeared in the mining areas of Iron County.
Thursday, April 12, 1973
The UFO drama continues. More and more sightings have been seen during the past week in Ironton and Pilot Knob. Reliable sources state that one was seen out at Shepherd Mountain Lake, over the Pilot Knob Pellet Company and at the high school gym. When the game was over and everyone started to leave, a red, blue and green light was seen hovering up in the sky in the area of the gym. A fast moving light was seen moving in the area east of Roselle also.
Thursday, May 3, 1973
On Friday night, April 27, a UFO hung over the American Smelting and Refining plant at Glover. Sighted at 11:30 p.m., it was estimated to be about 100 feet above the smoke stack and had two red and one green light. The form appeared to be in the shape of a triangle. David Swaringim states it hung there for approximately 10 minutes with the lights staying on until it moved straight north on Highway 21 until it went out of sight.
Wednesday, July 29, 1998
Gary Hart of Bloomington, Illinois is not your average, every-day kind of scientist. He heads the company, Hart Multi-Services, and he is involved in "Environmental Sensing Hyperdimensional Phenomena Research."
In essence, Hart is studying the phenomena of unexplained lights in the sky, called "Will-of-the-Wisp" in folklore. In particular, he is focusing on the Hogan, Glover and surrounding area.
During a recent telephone interview, Hart described how an open earthquake fault lies in that area, and how energy from this fault is discharged in the air and is seen as strange light.
"These are called low-energy light sightings," Hart said, "or low-level phenomena."
Hart, who has visited the Arcadia Valley off-and-on during the past, is researching this area for these low-level phenomena. He is interested in people who have also felt quakes in the area or who have seen strange lights. He said he has received reports from people on flickering lights over Pilot Knob, either as balls of light or flickering light, plus similar lights over Shepherd Mountain. He will be performing his own electrical-magnetic studies related to the faults underlying the area.
"This kind of research is being performed in Greece, Japan and California in the future hopes of predicting earthquakes," he said. "Looking to predict earthquakes is the ultimate goal."
Hart is asking for the assistance of area citizens who may have witnessed any unusual lighting, which may have been dubbed UFO sightings. Many of these sightings occurred in the ealy 1970's, but some date back to the 1950's. He would like to hear from anyone who has felt minor earthquakes.
Anyone with any information or personal stories is urged to contact Gary Hart either by calling him at 309-963-4566, or by writing him at RR 4 Box 182, Bloomington, Illinois 61704.
A Rose By Any Other Nickname
Election time has returned and Ste. Genevieve again offers the most interesting slate of candidates on the political horizon. Between County and City elections, citizens there can vote for a veritable menagerie. Duck is running. Incumbents Toupie and Rabbit run, and those they run against have the odd names.
Why does Ste. Genevieve field such eye catching nominees? The male nickname reigns supreme in Ste. Genevieve. Tradition robs men of every age of their given names, replacing their family's preference with arbitrary monikers. Don't look for rhyme or reason in the Ste. Genevieve phone directory. Bear is not a big man, Rabbit is neither fast nor prolific, Duck doesn't look, walk or quack like one.
Like many traditions, this one hinges on football. Two teams, one Catholic, one public, compete for state championships and local dominance in Ste. Genevieve. In the intensity of the rivalry, two coaches have been allowed to rename each player in the two schools. As it turns out, this includes almost every male in the community since the small town fields two teams.
If you are a male in Ste. Genevieve, failing to go out for football is the only fate worse than losing. Each player loses his name as soon as he assumes his duties on the field. The nickname becomes permanent as soon as it is bestowed. The entire community conspires to forget the given names of the boys. This practice constitutes the only way the community cooperates together.
So prepare for another set of strangely named public officials in Ste. Genevieve. Voters there may choose between Democrats and Republicans, but they always get the candidate with the funny name. Next time you go to the Courthouse, please give Hog my best regards.
