TheDundy County UFO hoax was perpetrated by theNebraska State Journal in 1884. According to theJournal, a group ofcowboys found a long, cylindrical object inDundy County, Nebraska, near the settlement ofMax, after the crash of ameteor. The story was revealed to be ahoax in 1927 byNebraska State Journal editors, though some continued to believe that the sighting was legitimate long after the hoax was revealed.
According to theNebraska State Journal on June 8, 1884, a group of cowboys inNebraska'sDundy County, near the settlement ofMax, came across the remains of an "immense"meteor two days earlier.[1] As one of the cowboys, Alf Williamson, approached, his face became riddled withblisters, some of his hair seared off, and his eyesight was damaged.[2] The heat of the site was so unbearable that they could not further advance to investigate, so they left to return the remains—which included dispersed pieces of machinery, such ascogwheels—the next day.[3] The site glowed throughout the night due to the heat emanating from the impact.[4] With a group of other local residents, they returned to discover a long cylindrical tube at the site, "about fifty or sixty feet long" with a diameter of some "ten or twelve feet",[3] The rancher for whom the cowboys worked, John Ellis, stated his intentions toclaim the land as his own.[3] Two days after theNebraska State Journal's initial report, the newspaper claimed that the cylinder was broken down in the rain—first the remains became congealed pools of machinery, and then washed away entirely, leaving behind only a "faint, sweetish smell".[5]
The story was both widely believed to be ahoax or a joke by its author soon after its publication.[6] It wasparodied throughout the campaign season ofthat year's presidential election.[6] TheLaramie Boomerang ofWyoming, for example—though initially carrying the story—reported on June 14 that the story was a political allegory for thetemperance movement.[7] It was published about a decade before themass reports of mystery airships in the late 1890s, which included various sightings throughout Nebraska.[8]
Despite theNebraska State Journal admitting that it was a hoax in 1927, some people continued to believe that the sighting was legitimate.[6] By 2007, theMcCook Gazette continued to receive several inquiries about the event, over a hundred years after it reportedly occurred.[9] In 2013, searches were undertaken in nearbyRed Willow County, and the reported discovery of a green material led to further belief that the 1884 report was authentic.[6] As of that year, someufologists believed the report was a legitimate report ofUFOs in the state.[6] In a 1997 article in theLincoln Journal Star, the Dundy County sighting is listed as one of the earliest in the state.[10]