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NOVEMBER 23, 1910, WICHITA, KANSAS, USA:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

The newspaper The Tribune, in Oakland, California, USA, reported on November 23, 1910, that a mysterious airplane passed over Wichita at a height of less than 200 feet and a speed of 30 miles per hour, in a southeasterly direction early today, and the operator was plainly visible.

The newspaper adds that the name and pattern of the machine were not learned.

The story was published on a French ufology website.

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. tr1:] "THE TRIBUNE" NEWSPAPER:

[Ref. jb1:] JEROME BEAU:

Jerome Beau indicates that on November 23, 1910, early in the morning in Wichita, Kansas, an aircraft passed above the city to the southeast at an estimated speed of 30 miles / h, 300 feet high, "with its pilot is clearly visible."

The source is indicated as "'Mysterious Airship Sighted in Kansas', Tribune of Oakland (California), November 23, 1910" with a link to a French translation of the article.

Points to consider:

In 1909 William Purvis and Charles Wilson, two railroad mechanics in Goodland, quit their jobs and built a rotary-winged aircraft in Wichita. It failed.

In 1910 the first successful Kansas plane, the 1910 Longren Flyer, is built in Topeka, Kansas, by Albin Longren, but he officially first flies it in 1911. It was quickly followed by a wide variety of craft developed by over 60 manufacturers throughout the state.

In 1911 Clyde Cessna builds a plane near Rago, Kansas, and puts on a public flight His first successful flight occurs in December 1911, following almost a dozen failed attempts. In 1916 Cessna moves his airplane manufacturing business to the Jones Auto factory in north Wichita.

In 1910, Wichita was a major city when it comes to pioneering aviation. So is it impossible that seomeone actually flew a plane in Wichita in 1910? Or that a would-be airplane builder hoaxed a story to create the rumor he succeeded so that he would get some funding?

I do not know, but what I know is that the report is not an alien spaceship or "true UFO" report, but an aeroplane report.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Possible plane or plane flight hoax.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [tr1] * Article in the newspaper The Tribune, Oakland, California, USA, November 23, 1910.
• [jb1] * A"1910", page web compiled by Jérome Beau, on his ufology website RR0, France, circa 2006, at rr0.org/time/1/9/1/0/index.html

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This page was last updated on March 9, 2013