Greene County, Arkansas - Centennial Edition 5

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       About the meteor

   A meteorite fell in Greene County, Arkansas, on Feb. 17, 1930. We spent that night with my wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edd Pegg, about 1 1/2 miles southeast of where the meteor fell.
   It sounded like a low-flying jet. It lit up everything like daylight and rattled the windows and the dishes in the cabinet.
   The meteorite fell on Mr. Joe Fletcher's farm and was found by Mr. Hodge. I understand Mr. Fletcher gave Mr. Hodge $500 for finding it. It spent some time on display at the Daily Press office on Court Street.
   I can also remember when there was a railroad called Cache Valley that ran from Sedgwick by the way of Fontaine to Light. At one time, they had a Model A Ford panel truck converted into a bus that ran regular
times on the Cache Valley tracks from Sedg-
wick to Light. Also one ran from Paragould to Walnut Ridge daily.

Virgil Harris

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    It was a cold, wintry morning at 4 on Feb 17, 1930, when that monstrous mass of metal came hurtling from outer space into earth's atmosphere over Paragould, Ark. It came with an horrendous explosive-blasting sound that we had never before heard.
   This swiftly-moving unidentified object was burning and the flashing brilliance of the light only added to the frightened wonder of the awakening citizens. Those people who were on their way to work at that hour had to sit down on the curb because they were so blinded by the brilliance of the light that they couldn't see to walk.
   Many puzzling questions crowded into our thinking. What was that thing? Where did it come from and where did it go? Many people called the telephone operator who was just as puzzled and frightened as the rest of us.
   Daylight had come speedily and loudly at that early hour in an eerie and extraordinary way. I wondered if we would ever know what that U.F.O. really was. However, by the time I
reached Paragould Junior-Senior High School,

where I was a teacher, I knew that part of the mystery had been solved because L.V. Rhine, who was principal, and his physics class were busy loading a truck with digging tools. They were soon on their way to hunt the landing place of that U. F. O. which, of course, they suspected was a meteorite. They had been told by an engineer on a train passing through
Walnut Ridge that he had seen it go down just a few miles out of Paragould.
   When the young men and Mr. Rhine found the place where the meteorite had fallen, they also found a farmer who was very angry because it had fallen on his land and had torn
it up. His anger was understandable because when the meteorite hit the ground, a 200-pound piece broke off the 1,000-pound mete- orite and both pieces were buried in the ground.
   The young men, excited by their unusual find, told the man they would dig the pieces up and fill in the hole and leave it as smooth as it was before the meteorite hit. This they did and, as they were leaving, the man was happy, smiling and thanking them for their hard work, which had taken a good number of hours.
   The meteorite was immediately taken and put on display at the Daily Press office in the window where the school children and all the citizens ofGreene County could view it. It was
interesting and informative for all of us to see all those minerals embedded in that huge rock formation. What a blessing it was that it didn't fall in Paragould where it could have done a lot
of damage and even killed people! What a wonder it is that many meteorites fall and burn up in the atmosphere before reaching earth.
   There were several offers from museums, but the meteorite was finally sold to a museum in Detroit. I don't remember the details of the
transaction but I do remember that the man on whose farm it had fallen was paid a part of the money received from the Detroit museum. The rest went to Paragould High School funds.

Mary Louise Wood Watts
San Diego, Calif.

   Roy Tyner, my grandfather, was one of the many who saw the meteor of 1930.
   He was walking home from a grocery store in Walcott owned by his father, J. L. Tyner, when he heard a loud noise and then saw a big ball of fire fall through the air.
   The next day, he and Ott Teddar, now de-ceased, went looking in hopes of finding the meteor. It was found several days later about 1 1/2 miles from Walcott.
   Roy Tyner was 86 in July. He now lives in Jonesboro.

Lou Ann Brauker

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.    ...And another visitor
             from out of this world

   This Centennial memory does not relate solely to Paragould, Greene County or even to the U.S. -- but to the whole world. However, it is a
happening that spans Paragould's Centennial and Greene County's Sesqui-Centennial cele-brations and since it is one of my first vivid memories, I will relate it to you.
   The Place: 504 N. Pruett St., Paragould, and the eastern sky.
   The Time: Approximately 4:00 any cloudless morning during the days of its appearance in the spring of 1910.
   The Event: Haley's Comet.
   Mother would get her family up about an hour before sunrise and we would all to to the front porch or to the front yard and watch this splendid spectacle which appeared just above
the horizon. I was to young, at the time, to rea-lize why all the commotion was being made because of a bright light in the sky.
   I know now. It was a beautiful sight to wit-ness and I will always cherish it as one of my fondest memories.
   This added remark: I hope to see it again when it reappears soon.

John R. Hitchcock.