As the summer of 1953 drew to a close, Springfield, Missouri, was terrorized by a gang of cobras. Although it’s described today as “the oddest and most hilarious” story in the city’s history, the incident sparked several months of panic and confusion at the time. It took over 35 years to solve, but the cause of the mysterious reptilian invaders was finally revealed in the 1980s. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The first report of a rogue cobra emerged on the evening of August 15, 1953. Springfield resident Roland Parrish reportedly came across an unusual-looking snake in his backyard and swiftly whacked it to death with a garden hoe. That same week, a bulldog was rooting around some shrubs and found another strange sn

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