1973: UFO SIGHTINGS ABOUND THROUGHOUT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Three letters dominated local headlines in 1973: U, F and O.

Sightings of unidentified flying objects were not unusual in Southeast Missouri, and as the year progressed, lights in the nocturnal skies were examined carefully for signs they might be "otherworldly."

The Clearwater Lake area in Piedmont attracted nationwide interest after many well-respected residents and visitors to the area reported seeing UFOs throughout the spring, summer and fall of 1973.

None could explain what was seen.

Dr. Harley Rutledge, a former professor of physics at Southeast Missouri State University, said the people of Piedmont had good reason to be perplexed.

His studies of UFO sightings began in 1973 in conjunction with Project Identification -- a scientific investigation into Piedmont's mysterious lights.

Some debunkers said the lights were merely airplanes, satellites and helicopters.

Rutledge, however, said no rational explanation would account for the variety of phenomena observed in the area.

Corroborated reports of UFO sightings continued:

-- A brightly lit cylindrical object buzzed a Chaffee woman's car.

-- A Missouri National Guard helicopter piloted by a Cape Girardeau Army major chased an elusive light in the sky only to have it blink off and then reappear instantly 12 miles away.

-- A commercial pilot attempting to land at the Farmington Airport was blocked by a spinning object directly in its flight path.

The UFOs were described variously as silver, orange, off-white and multi-colored.

Whatever they were, they were seen all over Southeast Missouri from Bernie to St. Louis

One story in particular, which captivated the area, was the one told by Eddie Webb, a Greenville truck driver, who said he used to believe people who saw UFOs "were either pilled up or had been drinking."

However an incident early one October morning changed his mind: Webb claimed he was temporarily blinded by a UFO that had overtaken his tractor-trailer truck along Interstate 55 near Cape Girardeau.

The truck driver said he saw an unusual lighted object -- shaped somewhat like a turnip -- approaching rapidly from the rear of his tractor-trailer.

When Webb stuck his head out the window to get a better look, he said he was blinded by a bright flash "which felt like a large ball of fire struck me about the head and face."

His wife, who was in the cab with him, said her husband pulled his head back in, put his hands over his eyes and screamed.

She hadn't seen anything.

Webb stopped the truck in the middle of the highway and his wife looked at him. She said his forehead was red and hot. One lens had fallen out of his glasses and the frames were melted and twisted.

Webb's burned eyeglasses became the subject of much speculation, when scientists were able to reproduce the unusual burned effect on the glasses through the use of a common highway flare.

However, a St. Louis ophthalmologist said he doubted Webb's temporary blindness was caused by the heat and light from a flare. Dr. C.E. Windsor theorized instead that Webb was the victim of psychic shock.

Webb became the central figure of one of Southeast Missouri's strangest insurance settlements.

Because he had been injured on the job, Webb had filed for workmen's compensation, beginning a two-year legal battle between Webb and his employer's insurance company.

Webb had asked benefits to pay about $1,000 in hospital and doctor bills and compensation for several weeks after the incident when he said he was unable to work.

Finally, in 1975 the insurance company finally settled for an undisclosed amount.