UFO Blitz in the Bluegrass Triangle

Found in the labyrinthine recesses of my archives: a newspaper clipping from a 1978 National Enquirer, exact date indeterminate. Says here that central Kentucky was reportedly experiencing a "UFO blitz" back in those long-gone days of disco and punk.


What exactly did this blitz consist of? According to the article, one of the incidents involved a pair of Madison County firemen called upon to put out a grass fire that turned out to be a "blazing red UFO" - which they then proceeded to follow across Richmond in hot pursuit for over an hour. One of the firemen, Robert Murphy, described it as a "classic" flying-saucer shaped spaceship.


Another case was a preacher and his wife who, and I quote, "encountered a gigantic, dazzling UFO on the way to church." Elmer Hardy, then 73 years old and pastor of Bybee United Methodist Church, said they were driving to Sunday night services when the UFO approached them head-on and hovered above them. "It was about 10 stories high and 20 stories wide, with a zillion lights on it," Hardy is quoted as saying.

Then there's 16-year-old Terry Kirby from Irvine, who the Enquirer says was chopping wood when suddenly a glowing oval-shaped UFO descended upon him. Kirby had the quick wits to run in the the house, grab a polaroid camera, and snap a shot. The article also quotes other Irvine citizens like police chief Marcus Cole, who says there have been many eyewitness of flying saucers in Irvine; and Guy Hatfield, publisher of Citizen Voice & Times, is quoted as defending the experiencers: "These were all solid citizens, with no reason to say it unless they saw one".

Another Irvine sighting report was from a Kentucky State Trooper, Jim Whitaker. He spotted a car-sized UFO with red/white/blue/green pulsating lights hovering over a field in Irvine on "February 19" (presumably 1978). "Whitaker, a veteran of 1,500 flying hours in Navy helicopters, said the craft definitely wasn't a helicopter or airplane." He chased the car for two hours in the Estill County night, and made a very interesting observation: "When an aircraft approached it, the intensity of its lights would die down... and once the aircraft was clear, it would light up again!"


The article, although rather well-written for a tabloid rag, fails to mention the presence of the Blue Grass Army Depot at the epicenter of this "Bluegrass Triangle" of UFO activity they posit.

Bybee Pottery

Bybee Pottery is the oldest continuing pottery business west of the Alleghenies, and their primitive and rustic pieces have a considerable following around the world. Even in Japan, there are collectors who know of the work done in this ancient building that looks much as it did when the business began in 1809. Unlike many attractions whose patina is faked for the tourists, this place is the real deal.

Many who have purchased Bybee's creations around the world are shocked to find this global empire is still run from this tiny run-down shack in rural Kentucky.

Bybee also happens to be part of a concentrated cluster of small spot-in-the-road towns between Richmond and Irvine, with great local reputations for hauntings: Bybee, Moberly, Robinsville, Estonia, Drowning Creek, Sand Hill, Panola, Speedwell, Brassfield, Waco, College Hill, Winston, and Wisemantown.

A number of other Kentucky potteries, spurred on by Bybee's success, also operated in this region for many years. The most famous was Waco Pottery (actually, there were three different Waco Potteries and one was actually connected to Bybee Pottery itself, but that's another story), whose creative glazes and shapes often rivaled those of higher-end companies like Teco or Van Briggle.

Rumors are, Bybee Pottery may close its doors in a few years. Being family owned and operated, they're reluctant to turn the project over to anyone else if the next generation in their family doesn't want to take it over - and word is, they don't. So visit this American cultural landmark sooner, not later, before its reign of two centuries comes to an end.