By L. Taylor Hansen
Winter, 1949
No one doubts the reality of the mysterious space ship seen over Alabama. But did it come form Mars?
Of what origin is this “Mystery Ship?” Russian? That would be crediting them with an enormous engineering advantage over us. But if not, who then? Only two classes of persons would be willing to make the next guess-Mars. Those two classes might include astronomers (never for publication of course, only off the record), and science-fiction fans.
On the night that this story appeared in the newspapers, I looked up the authority on Mars-Lowell.
Percival Lowell established Lowell’s Observatory in the highlands of Arizona during those years at the turn of the century when the western skies were still comparatively free of the s