19 February 1953
(The Horry County News and The Loris Sentinel, South
Carolina)
The article reports on a 13-14 February 1953 Horry
County, South Carolina, UFO flap that involved two possible animal mutilation
incidents (cow/horse) and animal reactions (dogs/horse):
Farmer Arthur Marlowe (of Route 4, Loris) observed a
UFO on
14 February 1953, at 00:30 a.m.
14 hours later Marlowe found out that he had lost a
cow on the spot over which the UFO had hovered. The cow’s legs were folded up
underneath her and there was no sign of a struggle. The cow’s nose was pushed
slightly into the dirt and pieces of the rye from the pasture were in her mouth,
Marlowe said.
According to Marlowe, Leon Hardee, who lived one-half
miles south of him, had lost a horse two days earlier with no signs of a struggle
and with grass in its mouth.
Quote from the article:
“In Loris and elsewhere in the county and adjoining
counties numerous people during the last week have reported sighting unfamiliar
lighted objects passing throught he sky.
Marlowe, who lives two miles south of Highway 9 on the
old Whiteville-Conway road, stated that he was awakened at approximately 30
minutes after midnight on Saturday morning, February 14th, by the barking of
his dogs and the braying of his horse.
After throwing on his clothes, he looked out of a
window and saw so much light that he thought his barn was on fire. When he got
outside he discovered that the light was coming from an object about 70 feet above the ground
and about 100 yards
beyond his barn.
He was able to make out three cylindrical beams of
light coming from the object, one from what appeared to him to be the front,
another from the side facing him and the third from the rear of the object. The
light was so bright, he said, that he could have read fine print where he was
standing approximately 100
yards from it.
Although he had his gun with him and three times
started to shoot the object, he decided not to in hopes that the object might
settle to the ground.
The object was about as long as a boxcar and was oval
shaped, Marlowe said. He was unable to see any markings of any kind on it. He
did hear a noise coming from it which sounded like an electric motor under
load.
After he had watched the object for approximately 25
minutes, it began to move gradually to the west getting higher as it moved
away. Marlowe said that the noise coming from it became louder as it began to
move.
While Marlowe’s experience is the most spectacular
report, others have seen mysterious lights passing through the sky. The Lacy
Hardees, the Roscoe Wilsons, the Levi Shelleys, and Miss Emmadell Prince, all
of whom live in the newly developed area of Loris behind Prince’s Esso Station,
report that between nine and 9:15 Friday night, February 13th, they saw some
mysterious object.
They first noticed the object travelling from the
south of Loris. They watched it move over Loris and on to the north. Then it
turned around and passed back towards the south.
All they could see was a light, shining steadily,
about the size of a fist, Roscoe Wilson said. When the object turned, the light
became larger, but returned to its former size after it straightened up.
The Wilsons and Hardees said thet the object turned
not to the right or left but turned up when it changed course to the north of
Loris.
After the object got too close to the horizon to be
seen the Lacy Hardees rode to the junction of Highway 701 and the street that
goes down by H. Clay Hughes Store and Brick Warehouse and watched the object
for about 25 minutes.
At this time the object which part of the time
appeared about the size of star seemed to circle down until it reached a
certain height. Then it rapidly darted up and to one side, and then began
circling down again. It kept up this motion all the time they watched it.
They left their vantage point twice to find the Loris
police. After they returned the second time they discovered that the object had
disappeared.
Earlier the same evening Bob Benton, station agent for
the Atlantic Coast Line at Loris, sighted a strangely lighted object in the sky
at Nixon’s Crossroads on Highway 9 as he was driving to his home at Cherry
Grove Beach.
The object came from over the water and seemed to
curve to the south of the land. ‘It was just a big ball of white light on a
level course,’ Mr. Benton said.
When he got to Cherry Grove Beach N. F. Nixon, Sally
Rogers, and a Cox man told him that they had also seen the object.
Mark Garner of Myrtle Beach, co-owner of this paper,
states that he saw a lighted object pass through the skies the same night at at
6:20 P.M.
A similar object was reported seen a number of times
the same night in Marion County.”
The article continues on Page 5.
Satellite photo of Loris, South Carolina (tageo.com)
(tageo.com photo)
