The Great Airship Fish
Capt. James L. Paladin, pilot
An unusual set of circumstances led me to the story of Captain James L. Paladin and his colossal airship. These findings are one of the greatest untold aeronautical stories of all time.
The airship launched in Texas in 1883 and flew toward New York City. This is the story of the airship’s secret creation, unlikely launch, historic flight, tragic crash, and its odd afterlife.
Research by myself and our Small-Team has made some remarkable discoveries: inventions, underground caverns, flying machines, secrecy, and a deadly crash.
We found a cache of antique equipment, tools, and other items in warehouses and vaults in San Antonio. We also found documents, maps, blueprints, instructions, and other important information in an old public library in West Texas. And some items were found buried at the crash site.
Lloyd Cates - Aeronautical Historian and Master Pilot
The story as we know it so far
It was 1883. A 900-foot-long airship was built in San Antonio, Texas, in secret until now. Its maiden voyage was a flight from Texas to New York City. Its ending was tragic. It never made it to New York. The dirigible abruptly changed course a few hours after launch and headed west. There was no signal, then one last ping and the airship was never heard from again. The wreckage was found in a desolate part of eastern New Mexico many years later. There was no sign of survivors. However, out of the eight crew members, someone may have survived and wandered the Llano Estacado until they found help.
The Beginnings
I had heard rumors of the tale of Paladin in my college days in West Texas. No one had actually seen any remains of the crash site. Coincidentally, my college roommate, Corrigan, from San Antonio, told me stories of underground caverns and a tunnel system under downtown San Antonio dating from the early 1800s. Corrigan took me there in 1968. We entered a rusty, steampunk-looking iron door adjacent to the riverwalk. But I only saw a deep, damp basement and a dark tunnel.
Then, months later, I found some documents in an antique store in Lubbock, Texas. I was collecting old Scientific American magazines, photos, and mysterious old maps. One remarkable document got my attention: an engineering drawing of an enormous factory under a warehouse in San Antonio.
But the search only began in earnest with a stroke of luck. I had no idea where to start until I had a chance meeting with a man named Digger. He knew all about the caverns under San Antonio.
We began the search with the Small-Team, a qualified semi-professional ground-zero research team. We organized the Small-Team to spread out over Texas and find out what they could about a man named Paladin and an airship.
1. The most crucial document discovery was in the Pecos Public Library in Pecos, Texas. We were led to a trove of documents behind a hidden door.
2. In downtown San Antonio, wooden crates, boxes, and barrels were discovered in warehouses and brick vaults below ground.
3. A few essential machines were found in a power and utility building at Lubbock Technical College in Lubbock, Texas.
4. We located the exact crash site in Crossroads, New Mexico, and started a shallow preliminary dig.