'Mass' UFO sightings in Stephenville, Texas are not *that* strange

This has got the nerds all a-quiver: there's been a spate of UFO sightings over Stephenville, Texas. Although, it should be noted that whilst many agencies (particularly the more excitable blogs) have been claiming there were mass sightings, it appears that the object(s) were seen by just four people, with further unconfirmed reports surfacing in the following days.

'Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.

"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. "It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."

While federal officials insist there's a logical explanation, locals swear that it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.'

A quick perusal of 'de web', indicates that this small Texan town is no stranger to matters fortean; in fact it has a rich paranormal folklore. Take a look at this transcript of a local legend for an example. There's also this account from paranormal.about.com on a case of 'missing time' (a classic abduction motif) from July 2007. Additionally, Mystic Ghost (a paranormal research unit from Texas) has this account of something going bump in the night from 2003.

The rather odd ghostsofamerica.com provides this compendium of predictably unreferenced sightings of the dead from Stephenville and of course, you should check out the story of the McDow Hole - a classic 19th century spook story. Finally, Stephenville also boasts a report from 1883 of four men swearing blind that they saw a cow suckling a serpent, spectral pooches and a rain of grasshoppers in a nearby county.

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Dozens in Texas Town Report Seeing UFO