A trapper named James Lumley is staying at the Everett House Hotel (pictured) in St. Louis when he tells the media he saw a “bright luminous body” in the sky, followed by an explosion and the smell of sulfur, while he was working near Cadotte’s Pass out west in Montana, according to articles from the Missouri Democrat, also known as the St. Louis Democrat. The object evidently landed, as Lumley reported finding an object containing compartments and featuring inscriptions akin to hieroglyphics. The paper noted: “Astronomers have long held that it is probable that the heavenly bodies are inhabited–even the comets–and it may be that the meteors are used as a means of conveyance by the inhabitants of other planets, in exploring space … “

Based upon content from the book This Day In Missouri History by Ross Malone, author and Missouri historian. Get your copy on Amazon.

Photo credit: Boehl & Koenig via Missouri Historical Society. https://mohistory.org/collections/item/N22437