This Week in Ozarks History: UFO sightings made in 1968

(Photo: Springfield-Greene County Library District )

Here's what happened this week in Ozarks history:
• Oct. 20, 1915: Due to a disagreement between St. Louis horse buyers and the French government, 500 horses intended for the French army in World War I were detained at the Frisco stockyards in Springfield. The disagreement was said to concern the basis upon which the French government was paying for the horses. The Springfield sellers received full payment, but the St. Louis buyers received only 60 percent of payment initially and the other 40 percent after the horses arrived on French soil. The original contract between St. Louis buyers and the French government required the furnishing of 10,000 horses over time. Springfield Republican
• Oct. 20, 1950: The Greene County library, originally in the courthouse basement, moved into a two-story, 18-room house at 1451 Benton known as the Silby house. About 150 people attended the open house including three assistant librarians: Dan Sawyer, Mrs. R.M. Rychman and Mrs. John Weisner, as well as Sawyer's 18-month-old daughter Clara Marie Sawyer. Springfield Leader & Press and Springfield-Greene County Library District
• Oct. 21, 1968: An unidentified flying object was spotted by three unrelated people between 10:55 p.m. the previous evening and 2:36 a.m. that morning. Three other people and three investigating deputies had seen UFOs in the west portion of the county Saturday morning. One man claimed that a UFO had come down out of the sky and caused his son to swerve off Greene County ZZ south of Highway M and into a ditch. Caller Steve Collins reported he saw an object from his home in southwest Springfield. Deputy Bob Duvall said he was in the area of Republic when he saw an object he said had red, blue, orange and bluish-green colored lights. According to the weather bureau, the light effect caused by phosphorescence coming out of the ground had been responsible for UFO sightings in the past. Springfield Leader & Press
• Oct. 22, 1921: The contract for the construction of the Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque on the corner of St. Louis Street and Kimbrough Avenue was let to Springfield resident John M. Olsen. Olsen was one of 10 bidders, others coming from Kansas City, St. Louis and Little Rock, Ark. The most expensive project ever launched in Springfield at the time, the mosque was expected to cost $343,000 and be completed July 1, 1922. The exterior would be of Moorish design, with towers 100 feet high. The front, facing St. Louis Street, would be in mingled shade rug brick with polychrome terra cotta trimmings. Springfield Leader & Press
• Oct. 23, 1917: The Park Board in Springfield has been working diligently over the previous months to create a zoo at Phelps Grove Park, and has received a permit from the state to pen wild animals. So far the collection consists of prairie dogs, ant eaters, fox squirrels, ring-necked doves and an eagle, among other animals. Two boys from Bolivar donated an alligator. The park has grown in the previous two years from a plot of ground overgrown with weeds and brush to one of the most beautiful parks in the Midwest. The Park Board is also planning to sink a deep well at Phelps Grove so the lake would always have plenty of water. Springfield Republican
Submitted by the Local History & Genealogy Department, Springfield-Greene County Library District

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