Levelland, Texas is a somewhat unimaginative place. East-West streets there have numbers and north-south streets have letters. Even its name is a bit lacking in originality â?? after all, it sits on â??level land.â? The town is home to some 14,000 no-nonsense folks who farm, refine oil or maybe go to school at South Plains College. It seems like an unlikely place for bizarre doings. Yet for one Saturday night, fifty-three years ago, Levelland was the capital of the Twilight Zone.
That night was November 2nd, 1957 and, truth be told, it was pretty dreary. Skies were overcast and drizzly â?? the kind of weather that just chills you to the bone. Levelland police patrolman A. J. Fowler was no doubt happy to be tucked in the station house that night. Yes, it was Saturday night but, in Levelland, Texas, those rarely amounted to much.
