(This is apparently the original article. The direct link is: http://www.dispatch.com/pan/localarchive/cavenws.html)

Another day, another man hiding from meteor in cave

Tuesday, August 17, 1999

By Mike Lafferty Dispatch Staff Reporter

CALDWELL, Ohio -- As odd behavior goes, Noble County Sheriff Landon T. Smith said finding a Kennedy Space Center computer programmer in a cave awaiting the destruction of Earth by a meteor last week was within local norms.

The encounter with Lloyd L. Albright, who fled Florida for the rural county 80 miles southeast of Columbus, didn't surprise Smith. He has seen plenty of unusual cases during his career.

In the latest case, residents near Wolf Run Lake reported seeing an unfamiliar car parked in the area north of Caldwell off I-77.

"This vehicle was completely loaded down with stuff. There was room for only one person. There were 16 guns -- rifles, shotguns, handguns of all makes -- and ammunition to go with all of them,'' Smith said. He also found camping equipment and a large quantity of dried food, including 200 pounds of wheat.

A NASA identification card found on the car's front seat belonged to Albright, a 47-year-old computer programmer from Satellite Beach, Fla.

The space agency confirmed Albright's employment but said he worked at the center as the employee of a NASA contractor.

After hearing about the car and fearing Albright might have injured himself, Smith led deputies through trampled grass along a road and into heavy woods.

A rope tied to a tree led down the embankment, and another rope led down an even steeper embankment.

Albright was at the end of the second rope -- in a cave that went into the rock about 20 feet.

"He was lying there trying to cook an egg over a fire, but he wasn't having much luck,'' Smith said.

That's when Albright told Smith a giant meteor was to strike the earth at 4 p.m. last Wednesday. Despite Albright's credentials, Smith didn't believe him.

"He very sincerely thought there was a meteor that was going to come and hit the Atlantic Ocean and cause a tidal wave 200 feet high,'' Smith said.

"He was trying to hide from this meteor. It was going to go up the coast, take Florida for sure and there would be water all over Georgia. The peach trees were going to be covered up.''

The man took vacation for his trip and picked Ohio because he had visited once before. He determined it would be high enough above sea level to avoid becoming beach- front property.

He wanted his family to come along, Smith said, but they didn't want to leave Florida. He also said he had been under marital stress, Smith said.

Albright was sleeping on a cot, drinking water that dripped through the cave roof, and keeping food cold in a pool of water.

Smith arrested Albright under a charge of disorderly conduct.

"He was a danger to himself,'' the sheriff said, adding that he didn't file the paperwork.

A night in the new county jail and a meal gave Albright a new perspective on the future, Smith said. He released Albright, escorted him to nearby I-77 and pointed him toward Florida.

"He was real apologetic,'' Smith said.

"He was real sorry for causing all this trouble.''

Albright, back at the space center where he works on space shuttle data processing, said he is thankful for Smith.

"Sheriff Smith did me a favor getting me out of there,'' he said yesterday, adding that he would like to visit Ohio again with his family.

Albright said the meteor strike, from fragments of Comet Lee, could occur any time within nine years.

According to NASA's official Web page, the closest Comet Lee will come to earth is 77 million miles by the end of September.