The month of October 1973 was interesting and contained a few surprises.
The spate of 1973 UFO sightings produced lots of investigations, chatter and articles before and after the month of October. The 1897 Aurora, Texas, UFO crash story case fell under renewed scrutiny. In the month of October, a reporter visited the supposed grave of the 1897 alien. Some individuals made noise about the case for the sake of self-promoting and money-making. Some investigators produced accounts from two then-living witnesses who proffered statements about observing the flight of the UFO in 1897 and about hearing accounts of family members who viewed the wreckage. As for that grave in the Aurora cemetery, since 1965, interest had focused on the peculiar crudely carved stone which marked it. By 1965, the marker had split into two essentially equal-sized pieces and one of those pieces disappeared at that about that time. The remaining piece disappeared at some time after October 1973. One night, amidst the 1973 UFO hubbub, a sinister black car was parked outside of the cemetery. Thereafter, a pipe was discovered to have been driven horizontally into the grave. Metal detection signals, which had previously existed at that site, were no longer evident.
The October 18, 1973, Mansfield, Ohio, UFO event involved, in addition to reports of sightings by ground witnesses, the account of a U.S. Army helicopter crew which reported that the overflying UFO drew the helicopter towards it. I do not believe the crew fabricated the tale in order win prize money for submitting the best UFO story in a particular contest. However, I think that the crew was rightfully scared from the green light of the unknown craft, and the pilot accidentally bumped the ascent lever to lift the helicopter to a higher altitude.
As for the Saturday Night Massacre which occurred two days after the Mansfield event, it made breaking news which I saw being reported as I watched television that night. Was either event meant as a deflection for the other?
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