The way Peggy Darst-Townsdin sees it,  Roger Sherman ought to be ashamed of himself.

As a young girl growing up on Central Whidbey Island, Darst-Townsdin remembers being curious about a large crater in the land on the Sherman farm that was noticeable from State Highway 20.

It’s the same hole that cows huddle around today.

“I remember people said a meteor from space had landed there,” Darst-Townsdin said.

Far-fetched? Sure, but Darst-Townsdin believed the tale for decades only to learn it wasn’t the case just a few years ago.

She couldn’t remember the source of the story, but a revelation this week might’ve shed some light.

Sherman, a retired farmer who passed on his half of the business to his son and daughter-in-law, said the large hole is basically a gravel pit they started mining in the mid 1960s when they needed gravel on the farm.

“Basically, the hill on both sides of the prairie is mostly gravel,” Sherman said. “The icebergs did that.”

But, when people inquired, to amuse himself, Sherman preferred to provide a more elaborate explanation of why the earth opened up on the farm.

“My standing answer usually is, it was a meteorite,” Sherman said. “Some people actually believed it.”

One of those was Darst-Townsdin, a longtime friend.

“I’m going get Roger!” she said.

Sherman said he’s used that line for decades.

“People are gullible sometimes,” he said. “If you say something with a straight face, they might believe you.”