Missouri's oldest UAP Encounters

Part 5 of 5: Missouri is Weird. A Hoax or Cover Up?

Nov 14, 2023

To wrap up the Missouri is Weird series, we are sticking with the ~~UFO~~…scratch that…UAP theme with more tales of lights, discs and submersibles. Southeast Missouri’s 1970s flap was preceded by stretches of sightings in the 1950s and 1960s. Missourians certainly reported some strange things in the sky before the terms flying saucer, UFO or USO existed. Whether the following stories are true is a matter of opinion because firsthand witnesses are long gone. But, if true, they feature the motherload of Missouri’s extraterrestrial experiences—contact, crash, and coverup—and it all began in 1941.

Fifty years after the incident, Charlette Mann revealed her grandfather, a Baptist preacher, witnessed a UFO crash site south of Cape Girardeau, MO. Mann’s grandmother shared the details of that night shortly before dying in 1984. Soon after, Mann relayed the story in a detailed letter that landed in the hands of reporter/ufologist, Leonard H. Stringfield. Stringfield would interview Mann, find her credible, then publish the letter in 1991.

In the letter, Mann explained that an unmarked police car picked up Reverend William Huffman on a mid-April evening, 1941 and headed 13-15 miles south of Cape. After parking on a road, he and the officer walked a quarter mile toward the wreckage. Huffman entered the field to handle the religious needs of crash victims. But when he arrived on the scene, the object was not an airplane, and the victims were not human.

Parts of a silver craft were scattered around, as he watched men sifting through the crash debris. Already on site were police, plain-clothed men, and military personnel. He saw three non-human bodies on the ground and described them as little “gray” beings. Before Huffman left the scene, the military swore him and others to secrecy.

Dr. J. Allen Hynek, astronomer/professor, originally investigated UFO reports for the military’s Project Blue Book, until it shut down in 1969. By 1972, he published a classification system for UFO sightings. Seeing non-human entities is considered a close encounter of the “third kind.” Huffman’s “grays” are the most widely reported descriptions of close encounters of the third kind over the last eighty years.

After returning home on the night of the incident, Reverend Huffman relayed the details of this account to Mann’s father, uncle, and grandmother and then told them never to speak of the story again. Days later, an unnamed photographer gave the Reverend a photo of two men holding a crash victim, as secret proof of what happened. Mann described the photo, which included a gentleman in a short-waisted jacket and the other in a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. They each held the hand of a deceased alien, she described the figure as four feet tall, slender, large head, gray skin, and slanted eyes.

She and her sister saw the photo as children, but their father lost the photo after lending it to a man who had gained their father’s trust then disappeared.

Compared to Roswell, the Missouri 1941 crash lacks the large amount of circumstantial evidence that has kept the Roswell case alive for over 70 years. For example, the military issued a press release stating they recovered a flying disc and multiple newspapers printed the story before the Army had a chance to retract it. The incident took place less than two weeks after pilot Kenneth Arnold’s sighting of multiple saucer-shaped vehicles in Washington. Newspapers from all over the states published stories of unidentified objects in the skies just days before the Roswell incident. Finally, numerous, credible military witnesses came forward later in their lives confirming the crash of a non-human vehicle with little bodies. Most witnesses said they were initially told to be quiet or risk their careers or else.

Despite the compelling evidence, plenty of people still call the Roswell crash a farce. So, it seems the Missouri crash doesn’t have a chance in hell of being proved until an official, authenticated government document says it happened. And though there have been “leaked” government documents with references to a 1941 crash in Missouri, their authenticity is questionable. Other firsthand witnesses kept their promises and likely took the 1941 secret to their grave.

But, there are a couple of intriguing incidents that occurred around the same time in Missouri and are equally bizarre. The first of which was a small, but important anecdote Dr. Harley Rutledge mentioned in Project Identification: The First Scientific Field Study of UFO (1981).

As shared in a previous story, Rutledge led the scientific field research team during the Piedmont flap in 1973. The team would observe and photograph anomalous lights from various high points along the Ozark plateau. Rutledge wrote, “During a telephone inquiry I made concerning the use of the Forestry Service fire towers, a high official in a Missouri State agency volunteered the information that he chased a flying disc while flying his private aircraft near Van Buren in 1937.” (Van Buren is 31 miles southwest of Piedmont, MO.)

Additionally, a local story released over the United Press International (UPI) newswire during the Piedmont flap included a statement that Piedmont residents were accustomed to such sightings “since 1942.” I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened that year, and hoped whatever it was, it was reported in at least one newspaper.

After searching through old Missouri newspaper archives, I did not find reports of Piedmont citizens seeing lights in 1942. Perhaps the comment “since 1942” was a reference to local knowledge passed down to each generation. To be fair, Arnold’s saucer-shape description didn’t become the de facto name until 1947 and the US Air Force didn’t coin the term UFO until 1952. This made newspaper research a little more challenging before 1947 as search terms like lights, sky, and object returned many non-related stories.

Still, I was lucky to find a few news reports of multiple lights in the Missouri sky in Mexico and Benton City in March and May 1944, respectively. (Both towns are closer to northeast Missouri). Eyewitnesses reported lights moving back and forth, up, and down, and sometimes in circular motion. Local astronomers discounted the lights as stars and meteors since the lights behaved erratically.

The National UFO Reporting Center database features an interesting report from Piedmont, MO. The sighting was dated 1930, and the report was filed in 2016. Part of the report states “I live outside Piedmont, Missouri, on a farm that has been in the family since the 1850's. I lived there with my mother, father, grandmother, and siblings. When I was a kid, whoever was the youngest had to sleep on the porch of the house. None of us wanted to sleep there because the ‘little people’ would visit, and we were all afraid of them. I remember that my mother and grandmother told stories about the little grey people who visited the farm at night and that the stories were in the family since before the Civil War.” (Excerpt from his NUFORC report.)

The witness was 96 when he made the report. In his words, “I don't want any publicity or anyone to know who I am because they'll think I'm nuts, but I'm not. I may be old, but I am strong and take care of myself, and have all my faculties.”

The NUFORC report makes those alleged 4-foot gray-suited beings that died in a 1941 crash a plausible tale. Perhaps there were little gray beings, or even brown according to this next story that took place a year later, almost to the exact date. Once again it takes place in rural Southeast Missouri, just outside of Charleston, which is about 40 miles south of Cape Girardeau.

On April 9, 1942, the Enterprise-Courier, the Charleston newspaper, reported that a local African-American crop share farmer (who wished to remain anonymous in their story) saw a submarine bob up the Mississippi River the previous Saturday, April 4. The newspaper reported, “There he [crop share farmer] found one Negro man and five little brown men who escorted him through the ship, or tin fish, or submersible, or whatever it might have been.”

The follow-up stories identified the crop-share farmer as Albert Turner and the farm’s owner as Harry Johnson. (Yes, that is his real name.) Turner said he saw his boss coming, exited the USO, and with a swooshing sound, the object disappeared beneath the water. He immediately tells Johnson the tale, who had just arrived at the property. Johnson immediately reports it to the local Sheriff.

Local authorities and Missouri State Highway Patrol questioned Turner, but he stuck to his story. He described the details of the ship, its locking device, and deck gun among “other things on this mysterious craft.” The Coast Guard was responsible for securing the Mississippi River and questioned Turner next. Since he maintained his story as true, he was taken to St. Louis for an FBI interrogation.

But, because the Charleston newspaper came out every Thursday, the story wouldn’t hit the press until April 9, five days after the sighting. By then, the FBI (or perhaps the military) released their account to the Associated Press (AP) for distribution to the newspapers across the region. In the AP version, the FBI stated they were investigating Turner “who insists he was a guest on a Japanese submarine.” It named Turner for the first time and said his “fantastic story” warranted FBI investigation. One newspaper added that Turner claimed he had dinner onboard the vessel before admitting he lied.

However, the details published in the Enterprise-Courier story likely came from local sources, perhaps even Johnson, and Turner. The story did not include a single “Japanese” reference. And the AP press never included statements like Turner meeting one regular-sized being and five little brown men.

The Charleston newspaper released the last story on the affair on April 16. The headline said, “Jap Sub In River Is A Closed Case.” A military official said, “It was a good example of cooperation between the various agencies in preventing sabotage.” Additionally, an officer said, “Silly as it was, we hope that by exploding this rumor we can encourage the public to discount such fantastic words in the future.”

This statement, along with Turner’s multi-interrogations, could also be interpreted as a warning to residents “If you see something weird around here, keep it to yourself.” In a recent government hearing, one government whistle-blower testified to a long-held, deep cover-up of UFO reports and recovered materials. I can’t help but wonder if Turner was pressed to change his story or confess it to be a hoax.

Don’t forget that the local newspaper described Harry Johnson as “a reliable farmer.” He believed Turner was telling the truth enough to call the Sheriff. Turner could have nipped that tale in the bud as soon as Johnson said he was contacting the Sheriff to report the incident. But he didn’t. He stuck to his story as it escalated from the local authorities to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, then to the US Coast Guard, and finally, to the FBI. Only then does he admit it was a hoax. Curiously, no one reported the reason for Turner’s hoax.

It’s also worth noting that Turner’s “hoax” came during a nationally publicized story of a black man who was lynched and killed by a white mob just 20 miles away in Sikeston, MO. This alone seems like a good reason for Turner to not tell such a bold lie, risking public humiliation or worse. But it is not the only reason why Turner’s hoax would have been ill-timed.

The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor just four months earlier and America was at war. In February of 1942, Japanese submarines attacked oil installations in Ellwood, California. A few days later, Los Angeles citizens awoke to air raid sirens. The military sprayed thousands of bullets into the dark Los Angeles sky. The military spotlights focused on a central area of the night sky where they aimed their guns. The following day they curiously reported there was nothing there… it was just a case of the jitters. Citizens were injured and few died from the event.

Whether there was nothing or something unidentified in the LA sky, the government’s response of not speaking to mysterious sightings in 1942 was likely in the best interest of the United States. Any public intrusion in US air space had the potential to create panic not alone be considered “weaknesses” that the enemy could exploit. A cover-up seemed to be the prudent action in response to any foreign invasion, including the 1941 UFO crash or 1942 USO sighting in Southeast Missouri—if they happened.

If we accept the Cape Girardeau 1941 UFO crash to be true, then Turner’s 1942 Mississippi USO encounter south of the crash site, makes the 1942 incident serious business whether a hoax or not. But as with all the unusual tales in Missouri, seeing is believing, true to character in the “Show Me” state.

Have any weird Missouri tales you would like to share? Leave a comment below.

The Curious Archivist

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