The tube was bent and punctured with holes large enough for a man to put his fist through, but all was accounted for, except the lens cap and the observatory dome. The original Crane Observatory was demolished by the tornado and all the records from 1903 to 1966 were lost. It was fortunate that the telescopehad been relocated to the rooftop of Stoffer Science Hall before the monstrous storm swept through or the story may have had a different ending. 1 year after the tornado. The dome in the new Crane Observatory was replaced, and the lens cap was found and returned.
Some people say the cap was found a county away, others say just a few blocks.
The tornado was a base for many stories and the truth is difficult to find. After the 1966 tornado, the telescope tube was repaired by Wilmont Fleming of Philadelphia, Penn. The lens was cleaned, reseated and reinstalled in a repaired tube. The company doing the tube repair replaced the outside counter-weights with a lead blanket affixed to the inside of the tube. This was the only modification the company did to the telescope besides basic repair.