Flying purple people eater

There are night road works going on, with lots of big machines parked during the day. This one took me back to 1958:

Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky
It had the one long horn and one big eye
I commenced to shakin' and I said "Ooh-eee"
It looks like a purple people eater to me.
It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater...
Well bless my soul, rock and roll, flyin' purple people eater...
Sure looks strange to me (Sheb Wooley)