When the blue man hoax took place, the Internet was imagined only in science fiction and by those who invented the Internet just a few years later.
Word of the possible alien invasion and articles admiring the success of the hoax traveled the old fashioned way — through newspapers and magazines initially and then through clippings of those articles mailed to friends and family.
Today, this hoax would have spanned the world in hours and would have been debunked only a few moments later. But because of the simpler times many people in Huron County lived in fear of the alien encounter, making it a newsworthy story, especially when the whole thing turned out to be a hoax executed in long underwear. The alien prank now has an enduring life on the pages of those who appreciate the strange.
http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_little_blue_man_hoax
This site has not seen activity since 2016, but their Facebook page does have a few more recent posts, and the site still has current advertising. The blue man entry references Traci Weisenbach’s newspaper article and an article for the Chicago Daily Tribune.
“The Little Blue Man Hoax.” The Museum of Hoaxes, http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_little_blue_man_hoax. Accessed 5 Dec. 2018.
https://www.neatorama.com/2015/10/05/The-Alien-Hoax-That-Had-People-Talking-Back-In-1958/
This is a short entry about the event on a still-active website that bills themselves as offering “the neatest, weirdest, and most wonderful stuff from all over the Web…”. Story tags include “Jerry Sprague.”
Santos, Zeon, “The Alien Hoax That Had People Talking Back In 1958.” Neatorama, 2015 Oct. 5, www.neatorama.com/2015/10/05/The-Alien-Hoax-That-Had-People-Talking-Back-In-1958/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018.
https://www.perdurabo10.net/blue-man.html
The author, who is from Huron County, was in college when the prank took place. He provides a readable summary, although with few inaccuracies.
Donahue, James, “Elkton’s “Blue Man” Hoax.” The Mind of James Donahue, https://www.perdurabo10.net/blue-man.html. Accessed 6 Dec. 2018.
https://www.ufocasebook.com/2008c/blueman.html
The UFO Casebook site archives archives all things alien. The site structure is dated, but activity is current, including the forums. Weisenbach’s article was original printed in the Huron Daily Tribune on October 30, 2008. The article found its way to the UFO Casebook on November 10, 2008.
Weisenbach, Traci L., “Elkton, Michigan Remembers 1958’s ‘Little Blue Man’ Hoax.” UFO Casebook, https://www.ufocasebook.com/2008c/blueman.html. Accessed 17 Dec. 2018.
Blue Man of the Thumb 