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many metal spherules were found scattered around the area, particularly toward the Northeast. |
The initial witnesses were Kenny Drake and his wife Carol, and Kenny's 12-year old nephew Randy James. Two other witnesses, Mike Moore and his wife Criss, reported seeing a hovering red object with lights as they crossed 16th street on their way downtown along Broadway avenue. Criss reported "a big round thing hovering in the sky below the tree tops. It was hovering. It wasn't moving." She added that she saw red lights around the perimeter of the object, blinking in sequence. A middle-aged couple who saw the event spoke to the investigators by telephone, stating that they had seen "a bright red object rocket to the ground near Big Lake" but they refused to be identified. Four teenagers in a small foreign car spoke to the Drakes at the time of the incident but did not make a report. |
Secondary witnesses who observed the metal were Jack E. Moore, assistant fire chief (who took the 911 call from Kenny Drake), police officer Dennis Murphy and Robert E. Allen, who had served in the Air Force and wrote a weekly astronomy column for a local newspaper. Mr. Moore stated that the center of the metal mass was too hot to touch when he arrived on the scene about 8 p.m., only 15 minutes after the initial incident, and that it remained so for about an hour.14 |
Investigation proceeded as follows: Measurements taken at the impact point by Robert Allen indicate the object was traveling from the Southwest to the Northeast. Samples of the object were sent to the Ames Laboratory at the Iowa State University, and others were taken to the Griffin Pipe Products Company. |
| The material was determined to be carbon steel, "probably man-made," of a type common in manufacturing. The following four hypotheses were examined: |
A. Hoax by Unknown Persons Pouring Molten Metal on the Ground |
A check was made with every metal firm in the metropolitan area which has the remotest possibility of maintaining metal in a molten state. Griffin Pipe is the only company which has the capability for producing a similar product. Mr. Linton Stewart, Works Manager there, stated that they "drop the bottoms" from their cupolas on Friday afternoon and do no pouring until Monday. The melting point is close to 2500 0 F, which would require transporting in a brick oven of 6 inch thickness with a large truck, keeping the material at the melting point. Conclusion: negative. |
B. Hoax by Unknown Persons Using Thermite and Ordinary Metal |
Prof. Frank Kayser, of Iowa State University, observed that one might "collect the splatters from a casting or welding operation involving carbon steel," |
14"Mystery Flaming Object Definitely not Meteorite," Omaha World-Herald, 20 December 1977. |
