4 Fun Facts About Lubbock
Alice Briggs
Did you know that Roswell, NM isn’t the only town in the region with close encounters with UFOs? You can research the “Lubbock Lights” for more information, but in August of 1951 three professors at Texas Technical College (the early version of Texas Tech University) observed a cluster of lights moving rapidly across the night sky. The lights were observed multiple times by these scientists and their colleagues as well as members of the community. No explanation was ever found.
Lubbock is home to the Cult of the Dead Cow – an infamous hacker group started in 1984. According to the description in a book written about the group, it’s “the oldest, most respected, and most famous American hacking group of all time. Though until now it has remained mostly anonymous, its members invented the concept of hacktivism, released the top tool for testing password security, and created what was for years the best technique for controlling computers from afar”. You can find the book on Amazon, here: https://amzn.to/3KEVKSC
The South Plains is, according to Texas A&M, the largest cotton producing region in the world with up to 3 million acres in cotton a year. Cotton is either irrigated and you’ll see the large center pivot irrigation systems in the fields. Or dry land farmed, without irrigation. Cotton needs warm soil to germinate and a long growing season of frost-free days, ideal for this area. Other major crops you’ll notice if you’re out and about are peanuts, corn, grain sorghum, and wheat.
Lubbock has a prairie dog town. Prairie dogs are native to the area, and as Lubbock grew, Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy N. Clapp set aside an area now east of I-27 in the 1930s for the cute creatures to live and thrive. Now part of Mackenzie park, Prairie Dog Town is a fun place for young and old.
