Aurora, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aurora is a town in Wise County, Texas, United States. The population was 853 at the 2000 census.

Aurora was also a town in Jefferson County, Texas, near the mouth of Taylor Bayou on Sabine Lake. The present-day city of Port Arthur has occupied this site since about 1895, when Aurora become a ghost town.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Possible UFO Crash site
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Aurora is located at 33°3′30″N, 97°30′58″W (33.058295, -97.516220)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.4 km² (3.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 853 people, 312 households, and 245 families residing in the town. The population density was 102.0/km² (264.2/mi²). There were 332 housing units at an average density of 39.7/km² (102.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.49% White, 0.23% African American, 1.99% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 1.52% from other races, and 1.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.99% of the population.

There were 312 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $32,656, and the median income for a family was $36,731. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $22,361 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,876. About 12.0% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 18.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Possible UFO Crash site

The Aurora cemetery contains a Texas Historical Commission marker mentioning a legend that an unidentified flying object crashed into a windmill near Aurora on April 19, 1897, the year of the mystery airship flap in Texas, and the pilot, killed in the crash, was given a Christian Burial there. A MUFON investigation in 1973 uncovered a piece of metal that was 95% aluminum, and 5% iron. This is very uncommon in nature, especially to find no zinc along with the sample. Scientists agree that it would have had to be synthesized, a process too advanced for the time. The graveyard was also searched, where a marker was uncovered that appeared to show a flying saucer of some sort. Metal detectors detected readings just like those of the above-mentioned sample. MUFON asked for permission to exhume the site, but it was not granted. When they returned for a last look, they discovered that the marker had been taken, and the metal removed with a pipe through the ground. The previous owner of the land where the crash had taken place is known to have discarded the metal from the wreckage by throwing it into his well. Having subsequently developed severe athritis that he blamed on contaminated well water, the same previous owner sealed over the well with a concrete slab.

The History Channel show UFO Files featured a story on this incident (most recently aired March 19, 2007). The show reported that the possibility of the story being a hoax could not be ruled out. Three reasons are provided for the probability of a hoax:

The Dallas Morning News reporter who wrote the story on the initial incident never did any follow-up. This was considered highly unusual, since follow-up investigation is almost always the case on a major story, especially where the possibility exists of conclusively proving the existence of a UFO.
Also, around that time Aurora had suffered a series of tragic incidents – a boll weevil infestation of the local cotton crop, a fire destroying a large portion of the city, an outbreak of spotted fever, and a planned railroad line which never reached the town – which threatened the town's existence. It is believed by some that the story was fabricated in a last-ditch effort to save the town from extinction.
The reporter that wrote the story was described by some of the surviving witnesses as being a known practical joker.

[edit] References

Robert Wooster: Aurora, Texas

[edit] Further reading

Reed, S. G. (1941) A History of the Texas Railroads, St. Clair, Houston; rpt. (1981) Arno, New York
WPA Federal Writers' Project (1939) Port Arthur, Anson Jones Press, Houston