Conspiracy: The 2003 Papillion Incident

An aerial photo of Papillion, Nebraska.

A disclaimer some time later: this story was made up by me. I wrote it as an experiment to test on friends. I apologize if you fell for this. Should you be upset: I promise it won't happen again. Still, I'm leaving this up for posterity's sake.

Ever read or hear a story so bizarre, it defies all explanation? Such a thing is subjective, but I’m sure we all know of at least one story that really nags at us in some capacity. I know of a fair few: the Somerton Man, the murder of Blair Adams, and The 3X Killer  are but three of them. Though one I’ve never spoken of is one called the 2003 Papillion Incident. This little story I’ve never seen talked about on the Internet, but it’s one I encountered in my time researching. Today, I’m going to share it with you guys. So let’s dive in.

From The Skies Above: The Mystery of the 2003 Papillion Incident

On the morning of August 29th, 2003, the city of Papillion, Nebraska awoke to a strange sight in the sky. Fire and a lot of it. It roared through the sky until it vanished over the horizon and a loud explosion was heard.

Then silence.

The few brave enough to go to the crash sight were met with a police barricade and a few military trucks. Those who tried to ask questions were shut down and told that it was a weather balloon that had caught fire due to heat lightning. The intrepid truth seekers were then told that if they didn’t leave, they would be detained for trespassing on private property. Not wanting to risk prison time, they left and after this, the incident fell into extreme obscurity.

The sight of falling objects from the sky isn’t anything novel; plenty of strange incidents around the world throughout the ages have been documented—both clearly and vaguely. Though given this was a mere 17 years ago, one would suspect that this incident would be significantly more well known. So why isn’t it? What holds such an odd event back from having mass reporting performed? Well, that’s likely easy to explain. No, this isn’t some government cover-up (though such a factor could be very likely). Rather, it’s because of crime.

According to FBI crime data, Papillion is actually a fairly dangerous place to live. Compared to other locations in Nebraska, it has a crime rate that’s higher than 90% of the state’s other cities and towns—regardless of size. As such, it’s unlikely that the press would be converging to a fallen object over the rash of assaults, burglaries, and/or murders that took place on that specific day.

There are some, however, that believe this incident to be a lot like the 2006 Volleyball Incident; that the media was told to flatout not report on it and to cover it up entirely. Both theories have some traction in the darker parts of the Internet, but whether or not you believe it is entirely up to you.

With that, the story—if one could even call it that—of the 2003 Papillion Incident comes to an end. A strange tale for the ages, there do exist some theories out there. So let’s go over them.

Theories

1. It was a meteor/asteroid/comet

First up: some suspect that the object was actually a meteor or some other space rock. Why exactly the government covered this up is anyone’s guess, though some suspect that they were planning on trying to use it to create some sort of biological weapon—or to see if any sort of bacteria had come to live on the rock.

2. It was a UFO

The second theory is a favorite among many truth seekers: it was a UFO. Crashed alien space crafts are nothing new when it comes to mysterious fireballs in the sky and this incident is no different. In this case, a UFO crashed and the inhabitants of the spacecraft—along with the craft itself—were whisked away to a facility in the hopes of reverse engineering the technology.

3. It was a satellite

Theory number three is that it was a government satellite that fell out of orbit.

4. It was top secret aircraft

Moving on, the fourth theory is that it was a military aircraft that crashed. Perhaps an early drone of sorts or something else similar to it.

5. It was a weather balloon

Our fifth theory is the official explanation that those few brave souls heard: it was a weather balloon. Nothing more, nothing less.

6. It’s a hoax

The sixth and final theory is that the entire story is a hoax and that it never happened. When it doubt: the story never happened!

My Take

In my eyes: this was nothing more than a perfectly explainable event that lacks any sort of extraterrestrial origin. I would place it alongside something like Roswell. Though I’m sure that I will end up being called out as a fraud because of that.

Conclusion

Whatever the case of this peculiar incident may be, the truth is likely to never be known. I would love to hear your thoughts though, dear reader. Leave a comment below. It would mean the world to me!