WINDHAM — Bill "Spaceman" Lee would have been proud.
An unidentified object hanging from a crane in front of The Common Man restaurant on Range Road this week had people guessing what the heck it was.
A construction crew and the restaurant's owner, Alex Ray, stoked the mystery.
They stuck the letters N-A-S-A and an American flag on it.
The results were more befitting a scene from Florida's Space Coast or Roswell, N.M., than a former farm in Southern New Hampshire.
Actually, the object is bound for the ground, not the sky. It's part of the business's new septic system.
Still, the tank attracted the attention of passers-by and drew questions from restaurant patrons.
Common Man bartender Tom Murphy said those who mentioned it mostly wanted to know what it was.
"I've been telling them it is my own private beer keg," Murphy said.
One customer said it looked like an atom bomb that fell and didn't go off, he said.
Actually, most of those who frequent the bar are working folks and they knew what it was, Murphy said.
When Selectman Bruce Breton came out of the restaurant after dinner this week, he said the tank reminded him of the old "Saturday Night Live" characters from the "Coneheads" skit.
In retrospect, it might have suited a certain southpaw pitcher who hurled for the Boston Red Sox decades ago.
"It looked like a space ship perfectly designed for Bill Lee," Breton said.
The septic system is being installed as part of a restaurant renovation project. It includes expanding the parking lot, the building and upgrading the sewer lines, restaurant spokeswoman Erica Murphy said.
