Lumberton, NC being encounter — August 6, 1952

On the evening of August 6, 1952, Lumberton mill worker James J. Allen reported an extraordinary occurrence at his home. In the account published by The Robesonian the following day, he saw an orange, rounded object strike his chimney and descend into the backyard. The incident was said to have happened at about 9 p.m. Allen went outside and described a small humanlike figure, approximately thirty inches tall, beside the object after its light had gone out. He addressed it, asking whether it was hurt. According to his story, the figure disappeared abruptly, followed by the departure of the object. The newspaper’s account supplies this sequence rather than a prolonged conversation or an entry into a craft. A reporter and photographer subsequently saw a depression in the grass. That observation documents the newspaper’s follow-up, without establishing how the mark was made. Footprints appear in later catalogue versions but are not part of the same contemporary description. The Atlas preserves the reported chimney impact, small figure and backyard setting while distinguishing Allen’s account from later additions.