09/06/2026
Get ready. Sputnikfest drops in one week - Saturday, September 12 at The Rahr-West!
When you look into the sky in Wisconsin you might see the Milky Way, or a plane, but you might see something…unidentified. In September 1962, a 20-pound object hurdled through the sky and crashed into a street in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. A UFO? The strange metal object was eventually identified as a piece of the Russian satellite Sputnik IV! A metal ring on the street outside the Rahr West Art Museum marks the place of impact and the museum has a replica on display inside.
Do you remember when this happened?
Each September, Manitowoc celebrates their connection to the object from space during Sputnikfest. It will happen this year on Saturday, September 12. Have you ever been to this out-of-this-world festival?
This Skullgard helmet was made from Bakelite plastic by the Mine Safety Appliances Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, likely in the late 1940s. MSA developed the Skullgard helmet in 1930, and this one likely originally had a metal bracket on the front for an electric cap lamp.
Years later, an unknown owner gave the helmet a whole new look—modifying, painting, and decorating it before wearing it at Sputnikfest in Manitowoc in the late 2000s!
A great example of how an everyday object can take on a new life and a new story over the years.
📸: Wisconsin Historical Society collections
