Mystery of the Cove
by from the , Ga and Columbus Georgia Online columnist
It’s been 20 years or more since I first heard of a place on the Flint River, in Meriwether County, called the Cove. A friend and I were rafting down the river passing trough some rather nice rapids south of Ga. Hwy.18 near Woodbury, Ga. We stopped on the west side of the river to rest in a beautiful little valley with green fields of hay and mountains that looked to be 360 degrees around us. As we went on with our travel down the river, I keep thinking of that location and decided to go back later by car and find it.
I talked with some locals on the bank as we got out of our canoe at River Bend. One of them said, “I know the place you stopped at, it’s called The Cove.” I ask how can I find it from land? He said there is only a couple of way’s to get in or out by the road. One is by cove road just south of Woodbury and the others are from Chalybeate Springs. I put this information in my memory banks for future use, as I didn’t get back to look for a year.
During this time I ask a few others about the Cove, I heard story’s of a valley that during prohibition was one of the largest producers of corn liquor. Their biggest advantage was if anyone came into the Cove, that no one knew, a shot would ring out by road watchers to warn the whole valley that a stranger or G-man had just entered the area. In olden times, an early form of neighborhood watch! The families were close and friendly with all that meant no harm but a danger to those that did. The next year, I finally did drive back to Meriwether County and drove into the Cove from the south entrance. I listened intently as I drove in, I heard no gunshot!
As I continued into the Cove I drove by on old church and graveyard and continued toward the river to my east. I saw an old man on a tractor in a field, near where I thought we had rested on the river trip before, so I stopped and ask if I could cut trough the edge of his field to the river just to look; he said go ahead. This was the spot we had rested before; the flow of the Flint was calm and peaceful. Some Deer stood on the east bank drinking, the birds were singing, and a hawk flew overhead. I thought to myself, I was glad the times had changed and the valley had gotten less hostile as moon shining had died out. As I got back in the car and started to leave I spotted to my west a site I didn’t dream of seeing. Two very large satellite dishes peeking out above the trees with Pine Mountain behind them! I had to go check this out! I was on was the Cove road heading to Woodbury, so I went on and drove right by the two large 100 foot, tractable dishes. At that time these dishes didn’t seem to be in use as everything around the complex was grown up and lacking service. The sign on the gate said “AT&T.”I went on my way, back home in Harris County and didn’t give much thought about these dishes again. While surfing the Internet, several years later, I ran across the Project Phoenix site and as I read the article that told of Georgia Tech. Woodbury Research Facility being a part of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). This was the dishes in the Cove! On May 4, 1997, This dish was outfitted and put in service as a FUDD ( follow-up detection device) to work with Antennas in Green Bank WV. and Australia. All controlled from Mountain View, Calf.In the Woodbury location ” the Cove”, the head for Ga.Tech. is, Dr. David De Boer.
It has been a happening century for the Cove. This beautiful valley has gone from Moon Shining, (making you see creatures from out of space), to Stargazing (listening for ET out in space).
For more information, on the net. or .
by from the , Ga and Columbus Georgia Online columnist