1941: UFO crash near Sikeston, Mo.

A mysterious aircraft crashes in a rural area. The FBI recovers strange bodies. The wreck is whisked off by the military. Documents are missing.

This isn’t the story of Roswell, N.M.

Linda Wallace was born in Sikeston, Mo., a town known for Lambert’s Café, the home of “throwed rolls,” and the Southeast Missouri Agricultural Museum. It’s not known for a UFO crash. Information Linda has uncovered may change that.
When Linda was young, her father worked at the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics in Sikeston and may have been privy to information of a downed UFO between Cape Girardeau and Sikeston six years before the alleged crash of a flying saucer at Roswell.

“I would like to think if your father knew something, he’d share it,” she said. “But I have no answers.”

In the spring of 1941, at about 9 p.m., Baptist minister William Huffman of Cape Girardeau was asked to deliver last rights to the pilot and passengers of an aircraft that crashed about 15 miles outside of town, in the direction of Sikeston, according to a letter from Huffman’s granddaughter Charlette Mann to UFO investigator Leo Stringfield.

When Rev. Huffman arrived, police, fire officials, the military and the FBI poured over the crash site of a disc-shaped craft. The pilot and passengers were “little gray people” with large, almond-shaped black eyes, according to Mann’s letter.
Huffman was sworn to secrecy. So, it seems, was everyone else.

Linda discovered Sikeston fire, sheriff and police have no records for 1941. No records exist for the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics. And stories have been removed from microfilm issues of the Sikeston Herald around the time of the alleged crash.

“I thought that was unusual,” Linda said. “I had gone to other dates and they did not have problems. And looking for an original for that paper, it’s not anywhere.”

So Linda did what any good researcher does. She started asking questions.

“One source spoke about ‘little people’ that died and were transported from the alleged crash site,” she said. “An unrelated source spoke about a fairly recent visit by a former associate of the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics. In her words, ‘There is a man – somewhat confused – who said he ‘picked up the bodies’ of crash victims from the base.”

Linda found that man in a locked wing of a Sikeston nursing home.

“I identified myself and my father’s name,” she said. “The man’s face went from a blank look to an ear-to-ear grin. ‘Your Dad was my crew chief – that was so long ago.’”

After a few questions, Linda was satisfied this man had known her father.

“I told the aging patient I would like to discuss the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics and the air crashes that were never reported,” she said. “The blank look returned to his face. ‘I do not know, I do not know.’ He was lost again and we did not reconnect.”

After the man died, she discovered this is the man who had spoken with the “unrelated source” about the bodies.

These are the interviews that keep Linda’s research going.

“I get bits and pieces of stories,” she said. “Evidence to either prove or disprove the event only leads to more questions. Two senior Sikestonians recall talk of the crash of an unidentified craft, others recall a meteor crash, and still others recall no incident. I continue the search.”

But not forever.

“I don’t think it’s within my ability uncover the truth,” Linda said. “I know this is not something one person can solve.”
You can contact Linda through her Web site, www.seekingmoinfo.com.

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it at jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Include your name, address and telephone number for verification only. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason Offutt is a syndicated columnist, author and fan of all things Fortean. His book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri,” will soon be available at www.jasonoffutt.com and all major bookstores.

Copyright 2006 by Jason Offutt