East / Springfield, MO being encounter — April 16, 1897

W. H. Hopkins, a travelling insurance agent, claimed that he found an airship in the hills east of Springfield on 16 April 1897. His letter, published by the St Louis Post-Dispatch on 19 April, described a metallic vessel about twenty feet long and eight feet wide, supported on four legs and equipped with two horizontal propeller wheels and a third vertical wheel. Near it he said he saw a long-haired blond woman gathering flowers and an auburn-haired, bearded man resting in its shade. Both were described as unclothed and using fans. After initially startling the woman, Hopkins exchanged friendly gestures with the man. Asked by signs where they came from, they pointed upward and uttered something he interpreted as sounding like Mars. This was his interpretation of unfamiliar speech, not a verified statement of origin. Hopkins described illuminated equipment inside the vessel, curiosity about his grey hair and pocket watch, and an eventual rapid departure. The newspaper checked his handwriting and employment and interviewed his family and employer, who endorsed his character. Those checks support his identity, not the airship's existence. The paper's editor subsequently expressed disbelief in the wider airship stories. Hatch carries a hoax flag, while the reviewed sources do not provide a confession or demonstration proving this particular narrative fabricated. It belongs in the context of the 1897 press wave and its mixture of sightings, speculation and humour. The plate labels it as an unverified press account and obscures the visitors' bodies behind the hull and vegetation.