On April 19, 1897, a great airship reportedly crashed and exploded in Aurora, TX, destroying a windmill. Among the strange debris, townspeople reportedly found the body of the ship's pilot. Though it was badly disfigured, they determined that it was an extraterrestrial--and then buried it in the town’s cemetery.

Because the Aurora Cemetery Association resisted efforts to exhume the body--and perhaps because of alleged military intervention--the case has continued to baffle scientists and UFOlogists.

So what does that have to do with local music? Well, this Saturday is the 111th anniversary of the crash, and Hailey’s in Denton, just a 40-minute drive from the site, will host the UFO Festival!, a night of music that boasts a lineup of great local bands--some of which create music that occasionally approaches the strangeness of the story the event will commemorate.

Performers include Violent Squid, Zanzibar Snails, Silk Stocking, Mad Scientists and Delmore Pilcrow, among others.

And, just in case that’s not strange enough for you, the night will also feature films from Short Attention Span Theater. We can only hope the shadow government doesn’t intervene. --Jesse Hughey