The Christmas the Aliens Didn't Come - 2015-12-18

The Christmas the Aliens Didn't Come December 18, 2015, Julie Beck, The Atlantic

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At 6 o'clock on Christmas Eve, 1954, a small group of people gathered on the street outside Dorothy Martin's home in Oak Park, Illinois, singing Christmas carols and waiting. But this was no symbolic vigil; they weren't waiting for the birth of baby Jesus. They were waiting to depart the Earth, and 200 more people had come to watch them wait.

A day earlier, Martin had received a message telling her the group was to wait at that place, at that time, for a flying saucer to land. They waited for 20 minutes for the "spacemen" to pick them up, as the message had promised. When none arrived, they went back inside.

This wasn't the first time they were disappointed. It was the fourth.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Julie | last = Beck | title = The Christmas the Aliens Didn't Come | url = https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/12/the-christmas-the-aliens-didnt-come/421122/ | work = The Atlantic | date = December 18, 2015 | accessdate = February 5, 2019 }}