LAW ENFORCEMENT’S FIRST UFO ENCOUNTER
By Dr. Raymond A. Keller, a.k.a. “Cosmic Ray,” author of the internationally-acclaimed “Venus Rising” book series (Terra Alta, WV: Headline Books, 2015-2024), available on amazon.com
Venus Rising: A Concise History of the Second Planet
Final Countdown: Rockets to Venus
Lady Columba Venus Revelations
Flying Saucers and the Venus Legacy
Within the borders of the United States, we must go back to the close of the 19th century to find a record of any law enforcement agents’ first UFO encounter. For paranormal investigators, the years of 1891-1900 constituted the “Airship Era.” There were literally thousands of reports of a mysterious airship crisscrossing the entirety of the continental United States during this period. But the only case on record involving law enforcement officers can be traced back to 6 May 1897 in the vicinity of the Blue Ouachita Mountain, immediately to the northwest of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Apart from this airship encounter, the only other claim to fame for this area is that President Bill Clinton’s maternal grandfather was born here in 1898.
On the fateful day in question, Garland County Constable John J. Sumpter, Jr., and Deputy Sheriff John McLemore rode north out of Hot Springs on horseback, headed along a trail to Jessieville. This trail roughly corresponds to the contemporary Arkansas State Highway 7. They were headed to Jessieville to check out some alleged reports of cattle rustling. Along the way, the two lawmen witnessed a “brilliant light in the heavens.” No sooner had they taken notice of the light, than it blinked out. Since they were looking for suspected cattle rustlers, however, they didn’t make any mention of the light, insofar as they didn’t want to make any noise alerting any possible nearby thieves.
In Constable Sumpter’s official report, he wrote “After riding four or five miles around through the hills, we again saw the light, which appeared to be much nearer to the earth. We stopped our horses and watched it coming down, until all at once it disappeared behind another hill. We rode on about half a mile further when our horses refused to go further.”
The strange light wasn’t the only spooky aspect of this story. The Constable continued: “Almost a hundred yards distant, we saw two persons moving around with lights. Drawing our Winchesters- for we were now thoroughly aroused as to the importance of the situation- we demanded, ‘Who is that, and what are you doing?’”
Then a middle-aged man with a long, dark beard stepped out from the trees. He held up a lantern in his right hand and asked the two riders to identify themselves. Once the bearded man was satisfied that Sumpter and McLemore were lawmen, he informed the Constable, “I am here with two others, a young man and a woman. We have been traveling through the country in an airship.”
Given the airship, Constable Sumpter noted, “We could plainly distinguish the outlines of the vessel, which was cigar-shaped and almost sixty feet long, and looking just like the woodcut impressions that have been appearing in the newspapers recently.” Even though it was dark and rainy, the Constable put in his report that he could see the young man about thirty yards away filling a big sack (a lister bag) with water, but that the woman was keeping back in the cover of darkness, holding an umbrella over her head.
The older, bearded gentleman, offered to take the two lawmen for a ride aboard the airship. “I can take you two anywhere you want to go, so long as it isn’t raining.” But the Constable replied, “That’s OK, but we prefer to get wet.”
In concluding his official report, the Constable wrote: “Asking the (bearded) man why the brilliant light was turned on and off so much, he replied that the light was so powerful that it consumed a great deal of his motive power. He said he would like to stop off in Hot Springs for a few days and take the hot baths, but his time was limited and he could not. He said they were going to wind up in Nashville, Tennessee, after thoroughly seeing the country.
“Being in a hurry, we left, and upon our return, about forty minutes later, nothing was to be seen. We did not hear or see the airship when it departed.”
Source: Weekly World newspaper, Helena, Arkansas, 13 May 1897.
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