WICHITA FALLS MAN
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Space alien almost destroys downtown Wichita Falls,
Texas. A CB Radio Operator was first on the scene.
The next time you're in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, get your binoculars and check out the bullet dents and holes in the flagpole finial atop the venerable First National Building at 8th and Indiana. Retired (old as dirt if they're still alive) cops will tell you that fellow officers used the ball for target practice during boring night shifts back in the "old" days. Shots were indeed fired, but it was hardly target practice on that terrible night!
It was 1964, and Officer Chet "Chalk Fairy" Chester was assigned to patrol downtown Wichita Falls. Chet had earned the nickname "Chalk Fairy" after it was discovered that it was he who had been contaminating crime scenes by drawing chalk outlines around deceased persons. The name is still used by police departments and crime writers around the nation today, thanks to Wichita Falls' Officer Chet "Chalk Fairy" Chester.
It was the night shift, and things had been relatively quiet in the "Falls". Chet, assigned to Car 321, was parked near the old train depot, enjoying a donut, and looking over the latest issue of a CB Radio magazine. He would have gone to Winchell's or Dunkin Donuts but, in 1964, there were no such franchises in Wichita Falls.
Between bites of donut and pages in the magazine, Chet was also talking - via his patrol car-mounted CB Radio - to Joe, KWF-7633. Chet's call sign was KWF 5611. Chet and Joe were swapping tales when a call for Chet came in from Police Dispatch.
"Dispatch to Car 321"
"321 go ahead"
"321 we have a report of a strange animal making its way south in the 400 block of Indiana. From the description given, the caller might be intoxicated. Check for both suspects."
"10-4. I'll check it out, I'm just a few blocks away."
Getting back to Joe, Chet said "I'll have to catch up with you a little later to hear the rest of that silly story, Joe. Right now I have to make a silly call."
"Dispatch to Car 321, what was that?"
"Uhh, sorry Dispatch, wrong microphone!"
This was not the first time Chet had picked up the police radio mic thinking it was the CB Radio. Chet was just one "wrong mic" away from having CB Radios banned in patrol cars, and this event might have been that last straw.
Suddenly, without warning, a blinding beam of light descended on a parked car just 50 feet in front of Chet's patrol car. The car exploded in a ball of fire, sending flaming metal in all directions. The sound was deafening and it caught Chet in mid-bite of a "long john", splattering raspberry goop onto the windshield.
Chet hesitated, trying to decide if he had time to swallow what donut he had managed to bite off. After a few seconds, he spits out the donut remnants and grabbed his police radio microphone to report the incident. Before he could press the push-to-talk button, another beam of light struck the 6-story, one-room wide skyscraper near 7th and Ohio streets. The beam hit near the top, showering bricks, furniture, and office supplies over the whole eastern downtown area.
This building - for a short time - was home to the Downtown CB Radio Club. Being 6 stories tall with a 50-foot antenna tower, it was the envy of CB Radio clubs across the nation. The story about the building being a real estate scam is true. The City, however, had the building extended to 6 stories in an attempt to "save face". The "upgrade" was done so fast - and just before the attack - that most citizens never got a chance to see it. Some just don't remember it
By this time there was no need to make the radio call. The entire police station, located just a block away at 9th and Ohio, had emptied, with officers fanning out to see what the commotion was about. No sooner than the station was clear, a third beam - fired through what is now the Wichita Tower - hit the old Police HQ. Another collection of bricks, mortar, desks, donut boxes, dominoes, chalk, ticket books, comic books, magazines, and other assorted debris showered the downtown area. There was practically nothing left of old the police station.
Before the last domino landed, yet another blast of light disintegrated another parked car, creating a mini auto junkyard in seconds. There was little doubt in anyone's mind that downtown Wichita Falls was under attack by something from outer space since it was believed that not even the Russians were capable of such destruction.
They were right. Atop the flagpole, which was atop the old First National Building at 8th & Indiana was, according to Chet, the most hideous-looking creature ever seen by man, at least in Wichita Falls, at least on 8th Street anyway. The destructive light beams appeared to be coming from its eyes.
Immediately, every cop within two blocks drew a bead on the ball and opened fire. After about a hundred rounds were fired, the creature dropped to the roof of the building. By the time officers, with the aid of Fire Department ladders, reached the roof, the creature was nowhere to be found.
"KWF 7633 here, what's happening over there, Chet?"
"I don't have time to chat now Joe, it looks like some kind of monster on top of a building shooting some kind of death rays. I'd get out of town if I were you. Spread the word. Gotta go."
"KWF 7633, this is KWF 2526 (Bill). What the heck is going on? From out here by the base, it looks like downtown is on fire. Did Chet say something about a monster?"
KWF 7633 here, yes that's what I heard him say. Do you think we should head that way to see what's going on?"
"You go, Joe. Let me know what you find out. KWF 2526 clear!"
The creature was seen running north on Indiana Ave. By this time, the local Army Reserve unit had been activated. Several people reported a very strange man, or something looking sort of like a man, sitting in a parking lot on Old Iowa Park Road. A mortar crew responded, sighted the "whatever it was" and lobbed a precisely aimed volley of 81 MM mortar shells at it. The creature, sensing the attack, evaded the rounds and continued on its way. You can still see the damage to the lot today.
But it wasn't over! Chet, refusing to be beaten, chased down the creature a few blocks away. Unfortunately for Chet, he didn't make his intentions known to the Army mortar crew. A mortar crewman, figuring he had one more chance to get the alien, lobbed one more round in its direction. It landed right in front of Chet's patrol car. Years later, to honor his dedicated service, Chet was given a job in the "afterlife" as a greeter at a Wichita Falls scrapbook store. He was renamed "Rufus" to ward off autograph seekers. You might have seen him!
This youngster, a member of a family-owned janitorial business working inside the First National Building that night, reacts as the space alien makes its way down a fire escape ladder. The First National Building had one of the nation's first still-photo security systems.
Some years later, the origin and construction of a liquor store on Seymour Hwy came into question. Many people thought it looked like a spaceship of sorts. Did the alien mistake it for some form of interplanetary travel? It is believed so because it was soon closed as a business when it was discovered that there was a radiation problem. This seemed to explain the proprietor's "glowing" personality and the fact that customers left the store "lit up" before they started drinking.
The former 6-story building with repairs made just above the fourth floor. It's now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Littlest Skyscraper". It seems that the space alien returned it to its original height.
This trolley was scorched during the attack.
This is the site of the old police station at 9th and Ohio. The corner location is now a small city park named after Chief C.C. "Bud" Daniel, the Police Chief at that time. A new station was completed at 7th and Holliday in 1965. During the period before the new station was ready, officers worked out of a tent erected in front of a donut shop on Old Iowa Park Road.
There were several complaints of broken house and car windows in the area of North 8th Street, presumably from errant bullets falling on the area. No injuries were reported.
The creature's last-known location that night was the old Twin Sheppard Drive-In theater on Old Iowa Park Road where he burned down the screen when he tried to use it as an antenna to phone home. You can still see these remains today.
For many years after the incident, Wichita Falls police officers, and selected CB Radio Operators, were issued space beam-resistant glasses! This photo shows officers with a box full of special glasses on Ohio Street.
This strange symbol was noticed on Wrangler Drive. Some say it's a mark left by one of our special visitors to let others know that he or "it" is in the neighborhood. Some say it's an ad for a gentleman's club. Others say it was just the street repair guys having a little fun. Who knows?
Investigations, over the years, point to the belief that the downtown incident was merely a diversion tactic so that other "space aliens" could disperse throughout the city undetected. The "downtown creature" may have been willing to sacrifice himself to this end. This proved to be unnecessary. Sheppard Air Force Base later reported seeing three slow-moving objects on radar descending, then disappearing, over the city. They thought it was a glitch.
It has taken them many years to assimilate into the community, and they have not completely done so. Their appearance and mannerisms are just a little bit “off” and you have no doubt come in contact with them from time to time. Think back to that person who was just not “right”. You might have done business with one. You might have worked for one. One might have worked for you. You might have heard about strange entities near bridges or apparitions in sanitariums. Now you know the story. We don’t know how many are here, but they are here and they keep coming. In 2020, three UFOs were seen crossing over the 2400 Block of 9th street. Believe.
© 2009 KHT 0496