Case file · Close encounter
The pocket airship of Albion, Nebraska
The Albion Weekly News reported two witnesses who saw an airship crash inches from them; its pilot showed them a device that shrank the ship small enough to fit in his pocket.
1897 CE · 41.69, -98.00 · status: hoax
The sceptical view
The rival Wilsonville Review mocked the story, claiming its editor heard the pilot say 'subscribe for the Review' backwards. Satire of this kind shows how little some editors believed.