This is the story as I remember it, of my first seeing Haley's Comet - of
my seeing Haley's Comet. This was in Lexington, Kentucky, and I was
living at the Transylvania Inn, the place I was born. My mother was
operating that Inn. My father was a horse trainer. It must have been in
the late spring or early summer, my mother came to me and said, "Let's go
upstairs on the veranda." She said, "I want you to see Haley's Comet."
To me it was only another star, so every night I went up and watched and
as it got closer, what I though was a star, started to take on the look of
a ball of fire with a tail behind it.
Kentucky light shine
Will it fall from the sky?
Kentucky light shine
Stranger in the sky
Kentucky light shine
Will it fall from the sky?
Kentucky light shine
Stranger in the sky
And as it came around, it got bigger and bigger and lower and lower, till
finally one night it was over the Tattersall's barn. It looked like that
it just hovering over that barn and that it might fall at any minute. The
horses in the barn were restless. They were thrashing around in the
stalls. They were nickering. It was a nicker of fear. My father,
several other men, went to the barn to try to quiet the horses. I went
to my mother and I said, "Mother, I'm afraid." She says, "So am I." I
said, "What can I do?" She said, "Well, ask God to spare us." It was so
bright that there were dark shadows under the eves of the barn. I don't
think I can describe that eerie light. It wasn't pure white, it wasn't
red, it just seemed like a light that reached your very soul.
Kentucky light shine
Will it fall from the sky?
Kentucky light shine
Stranger in the sky
Kentucky light shine
Will it fall from the sky?
Kentucky light shine
Stranger in the sky