User:Jeremy Wordsworth/OL PAGE

Orlando, Oklahoma
Town
Location of Orlando, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 36°8′54″N 97°22′39″W
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
Counties	Logan, Payne
Area
• Total	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
• Land	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	1,099 ft (335 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	201
• Density	942.5/sq mi (363.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	73073
Area code	580
FIPS code	40-56050
GNIS feature ID	1096304

Orlando is a town in Logan and Payne counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 201 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Orlando is located at 36°8′54″N 97°22′39″W (36.148267, -97.377512).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 201 people, 74 households, and 52 families residing in the town. The population density was 942.5 people per square mile (369.6/km²). There were 88 housing units at an average density of 412.6 per square mile (161.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 86.07% White, 9.95% Native American, 1.00% Asian, and 2.99% from two or more races.

There were 74 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 105.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,929, and the median income for a family was $35,625. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $27,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,826. About 18.0% of families and 17.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.4% of those under the age of eighteen and 14.3% of those sixty five or over.

SERIOUS INCIDENT

According to the boys, they ran into the park from their street corner location where they were just hanging around on a "nothing else to do" Saturday night and discovered a strange light glowing in the pond about twenty feet. from shore. The boys had run about two blocks to the pond and didn't actually see or hear the object hit the water. There was a faint "fizz" or sizzling sound heard, however, and one of the lads said that "it sounded like someone had thrown a cigarette in the water." So, too, one boy thought the pond had an odour "like gas from a gas stove", while another boy said that "the pond just smelled like it usually does". The mysterious airborne object was described as being bright whitish-yellow in colour with a trail of reddish sparks. It was estimated to appear about as large as a five cent piece (a nickel) held at arm's length. But one of the boys would later say that it was about "three times the size of a basketball". No sounds were noted by the teens as the object appeared to fall towards the earth, and they didn't see a trail of smoke coming from it either. One boy said, "It looked like a shooting star". However, later versions of the story credit the boys with saying the object whistled as it sped earthward. The boys left the pond to report the submerged light to the police about 7:00 p.m. and when they returned to the pond (around 15 minutes later) they thought that the light had taken up another position in the water, although no one actually saw the light moving at that time. The light was described as being yellow-orange in colour by two of the boys, while the third witness described it as "yellowish, almost white". The light on the water's surface appeared as an irregular disc about 5 feet in diameter. While several UFO researchers would later describe it as being an irregular shaped glow at 20 feet in diameter, I performed a very simple experiment with a flashlight in a darkened room and discovered that the central portion of the light's beam appeared to be about five feet in diameter (when directed at the ceiling) and its outer, fainter, and more widely dispersed light beam was about 4 times larger. This may account for the discrepancy in the estimates concerning the diameter of the glow on the pond's surface - or perhaps, the later researchers may have misinterpreted the boys' statements regarding the "position" of the light from shore, which was initially reported to be about twenty feet. I asked the officer on the phone if the object might have been a small private plane, fearing that someone may have been trapped in an air-pocket within the fuselage's wreckage. He said that the reports indicated that the object's tremendous speed and the lack of floating debris on the water seemed to deny that possibility. I then asked if the object could have been some sort of "space junk" and informed him that there were military tracking installations such as NORAD that should be contacted in regard to the situation.

References

Category:Logan County, Oklahoma Category:Payne County, Oklahoma Category:Towns in Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area