Air Ships and Balloons
Report from Germany / Report from USA / Report from Canada
/ Report from Bermuda / Report from Great Britain / Report from France

Report From Germany

"On August 17th (London Times, August 19) laborers at work in the forest east of Dessau, Germany, saw in the sky an object that they thought was a balloon. It suddenly flamed, and something that was thought to be its car, fell into the forest. The chief forester was notified, and a hunt, on a large scale, was made, but nothing was found. Aeronautical societies reported that no known balloon had been sent up. It was thought that the object must have been somebody's large toy balloon. About this time, the fall from the sky of a white cylinder of marble was reported. ...(it was a) symmetric, seemingly carved cylinder, 12 inches long, weight about 3 pounds. (Page 639)

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Reports From The USA

     About 9 p.m., August 30th--- lights as if upon an airship, moving over New York City (New York World, August 31). Aviators were interviewed, but all known aircraft were accounted for. World, September 2--- that two men had sent up a large kite. Upon the 21st of September (New York Tribune, September 22) a great number of round objects were seen passing from west to east over the lower part of New York City. Crowds stood in the streets, watching them. They were thought to be little balloons. I have records of similar objects, in large numbers, that could not be considered little balloons. For several hours this procession continued. If somebody in Jersey City was advertising, he kept quiet about his bid for publicity. The next day, at Dunkirk, N.Y., an object, described as an unknown cigar-shaped balloon, was seen in the sky, over Lake Erie, seeming to be unmanageable, gradually disappearing, late in the evening. There was so much excitement in Dunkirk that tugboats went out and searched all night. Toronto Daily Mail and Empire, September 24--- that someone on a tugboat had found a large box-kite, which had been sent up by a party of campers, and was undoubtedly the reported object." (Pages 639-640)
      "In the New York newspapers, September, 1880, are allusions to an unknown object that had been seen traveling in the sky, in several places, especially in St.Louis and Louisville. I have not been able to get a St.Louis newspaper of this time, but I found accounts in the Louisville Courier-Journal, July 29, Aug.6, 1880. Unless an inventor of this earth was more self-effacing than biographies of inventors indicate, no inhabitant of this earth succeeded in making a dirigible aerial contrivance, in the year 1880, then keeping quiet about it. The story is that between 6 and 7 o'clock, evening of July 28th, people in Louisville, saw in the sky 'an object like a man, surrounded by machinery, which he seemed to be working with his hands and feet.' The object moved in various directions, ascending and descending, seemingly under control. When darkness came, it disappeared. Then came dispatches, telling of something that had been seen in the sky, at Madisonville, Ky. 'It was something with a ball at each end.' 'It sometimes appeared in a circular form, and then changed to an oval. It passed out of sight, moving south.'" (Pages 640-641)

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Report From Canada

      "In Nature, Aug.11, 1898, there is a story, taken from the July number of the Canadian Weather Review, by the meteorologist, F.F.Payne: that he had seen, in the Canadian sky, a large, pear-shaped object, sailing rapidly. At first he supposed that the object was a balloon, 'its outline being sharply defined.' but, as no cage was seen, it was concluded that it must be a mass of cloud.' In about six minutes this object became less definite--- whether because on increasing distance or not--- 'the mass became less dense, and finally it disappeared.' As to cyclonic formation--- 'no whirling motion could be seen.'" "In the aeronautic journals and in the London Times there is no mention of escaped balloons, in the summer or fall of 1898. In the New York Times there is no mention of ballooning in Canada or the United States, in the summer of 1898." (Page 263)

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Report From Bermuda

      "London Times, Sept.29, 1885: A clipping from the Royal Gazette, of Bermuda, of Sept.8, 1885, sent to the Times by General Lefroy: That, upon Aug.27, 1885, at about 8:30a.m., there was observed by Mrs.Adelina D.Bassett, 'a strange object in the clouds, coming from the north.' She called the attention of Mrs.L.Lowell to it, and they were both somewhat alarmed. However, they continued to watch the object steadily for some time. It drew nearer. It was of triangular shape, and seemed to be about the size of a pilot-boat mainsail, with chains attached to the bottom of it. While crossing the land it had appeared to descend, but, as it went out to sea, it ascended, and continued to ascend, until it was lost to sight high in the clouds. ...With such power to ascend, I don't think much myself of the notion that it was an escaped balloon, partly deflated. Nevertheless, General Lefroy... attempts to give a terrestrial interpretation to this occurrence. He argues that the thing may have been a balloon that had escaped from France or England--- or the only aerial thing of terrestrial origin that, even to this date of about thirty-five years later, has been thought to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean. he accounts for the triangular form by deflation--- 'a shapeless bag, barely able to float.' My own acceptance is that great deflation does not accord with observations upon its power to ascend. In the Times, Oct.1, 1885, Charles Harding, of the R.M.S., argues that if it had been a balloon from Europe, surely it would have been seen and reported by many vessels. Whether he was as good a Briton as the General or not, he shows awareness of the United States--- or that the thing may have been a partly collapsed balloon that had escaped from the United States. General Lefroy wrote to Nature about it (Nature, 33-99), saying...that the columns of the Times were 'hardly suitable' for such a discussion. ...He took the trouble to write to a friend of his, W.H.Gosling, of Bermuda--- who ... went to the trouble of interviewing Mrs.Bassett and Mrs.Lowell. ...Mr.Gosling wrote that the item of chains, or suggestion of a basket that had been attached, had originated with Mr.Bassett, who had not seen the object. Mr.Gosling mentioned a balloon that had escaped from Paris in July. He tells of a balloon that fell in Chicago, September 17, or three weeks later than the Bermuda object." (Pages 263-264) "Nature, 33-137, 'Our correspondent writes that in relation to the balloon which is said to have been seen over Bermuda, in September, no ascent took place in France, which can account for it.' Last of August: not September. In the London Times there is no mention of balloon ascents in Great Britain, in the summer of 1885, but mention of two ascents in France. Both balloons had escaped. In L'Aeronaute, August, 1885, it is said that these balloons had been sent up from fetes of the fourteenth of July--- 44 days before the observation at Bermuda. The aeronauts were Gower and Eloy. Gower's balloon was found floating on the ocean, but Eloy's balloon was not found. Upon the 17th of July it was reported by a sea captain: still in the air; still inflated. But this balloon of Eloy's was a small exhibition balloon, made for short ascents from fetes and fair grounds. In La Nature , 1885-2-131, it is said that it was a very small balloon, incapable of remaining long in the air. As to contemporaneous ballooning in the United States, I find only one account: an ascent in Connecticut, July 29, 1885. Upon leaving this balloon, the aeronauts had pulled the 'rip cord,' 'turning it inside out.' (New York Times, Aug.10, 1885.)" (Page 265)

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Reports From Great Britain

     "In the English Mechanic, 86-100, Col.Markwick writes that, according to the Cambrian Natural Observer, something was seen in the sky, at Llangollen, Wales, Sept.2, 1905. It is described as an intensely black object, about two miles above the earth's surface, moving at the rate of about twenty miles an hour. Col.Markwick writes: 'Could it have been a balloon?' ...In the Cambrian Natural Observer, 1905-35--- the journal of the Astronomical Society if Wales--- it is said that, according to accounts in the newspapers, an object had appeared in the sky, at Llangollen, Wales, Sept.2, 1905. At the schoolhouse, in Vroncysylite...the thing in the sky had been examined through powerful field glasses. We are told that it had short wings, and flew, or moved, in a way described as 'casually inclining sideways.' It seemed to have four legs, and looked to be about ten feet long. According to several witnesses it looked like a huge, winged pig, with webbed feet. 'Much speculation was rife as to what the mysterious object could be.' " (Pages 484-485) As a side note: "Five days later, according to a member of the Astronomical Society of Wales...a purple-red substance fell from the sky, at Llanelly, Wales." (Page 485)
     "In the English Mechanic, 75-417, Col.Markwick writes that, upon May 10, 1902, a friend of his had seen in the sky, in South Devon, a great number of highly colored objects like little suns or toy-balloons. 'Altogether beats me,' says Col.Markwick." (Pages 486-487)
      "'Unknown Aircraft Over Dover.' According to the Dover correspondent to the London Times (Jan.6, 1913) something had been seen, over Dover, heading from the sea. In the London Standard, Jan.24, 1913, it is said that, upon the morning of January 4, an unknown airship had been seen, over Dover, and that, about the same time, the lights of an airship had been seen over the British Channel. These places are several hundred miles apart. London Times, January 21--- report by Capt.Lindsay, Chief Constable of Glamorganshire: that, about five o'clock, in the afternoon of January 17, he saw an object in the sky of Cardiff Wales. He says that he called the attention of a bystander, who agreed with him that it was a large object. 'It was much larger than the Willows airship, and left in its trail a dense smoke. It disappeared quickly.' The next day, according to the Times, there were other reports: people in Cardiff saw something that was lighted or that carried lights, moving rapidly in the sky. In the Times, of the 28th, it is said that an airship that carried a brilliant light had been seen in Liverpool. 'It is stated at the Liverpool Aviation School that none of the airmen had been out on Saturday night.' Dispatches from town after town--- a traveling thing in the sky, carrying a light, and also a searchlight that swept the ground. It is said that a vessel, of which the outlines could be clearly seen, had appeared in the sky of Cardiff, Newport, Neath, and other places in Wales. In the Standard, January 31, is published a list of cities where the object had been seen. Here a writer tries to conclude that some foreign airship had made half a dozen visits to England and Wales, or had come once, remaining three weeks; but he gives up the attempt, thinking that nothing could have reached England and have sailed away half a dozen times without being seen to cross the coast; thinking that the idea of anything having made one journey, and remaining three weeks in the air deserved no attention. If the unknown object did carry something likea searchlight, an idea of its powers is given in an account in the Cardiff Evening Express, Jan.25, 1913--- 'Last evening brilliant lights were seen, sweeping skyward, and now, this evening, the lights grow bolder. Streets and houses in the locality of Totterdown were suddenly illuminated by a brilliant, piercing light, which, sweeping upward, gave many spectators a fine view of the hills beyond.' In the Express, February 6, is a report upon this light like a searchlight, and the object that flashed it, by the police of the Dulais Valley. Also there is an account, by a police sergeant, of a luminous thing that was for a while stationary in the sky, and then moved away. Still does the conventional explanation, or suggestion, survive. It is said that members of the staff of the Evening Express had gone to the roof of the newspaper building, but had seen only the planet Venus, which was brilliant at this time. Then writes a correspondent, to the Express, that the object could not have been Venus, because he had seen it traveling at a rate of 20 or 30 miles an hour, and had heard sounds from it. Someone else writes that not possibly could the thing be Venus: he had seen it as 'a bright red light, going very fast.' Still someone else says that he had seen the seeming vessel upon the 5th of February, and that it had suddenly disappeared." (Pages 512-514)
     "There is a hiatus. Between the 5th and the 21st of February, nothing like an airship was seen in the sky of England and Wales. ...Upon the night of the 21st, a luminous object was reported from towns in Yorkshire and from towns in Warwickshire, two regions about one hundred miles apart; about 10 p.m.. All former attempts to explain had been abandoned, and the general supposition was that German airships were maneuvering over England. But not a thing had been seen to cross the coast of England, though guards were patroling the coasts, especially commissioned to watch for foreign airships. Sailors in the North Sea, and people in Holland and Belgium had seen nothing that could be thought a German airship sailing to or from England. A writer in Flight takes up as especially mysterious the appearance far inland, in Warwickshire. Then came reports from Portsmouth, Ipswich, Hornsea, and Hull, but, one notes, no more, at this time, from Wales. Also in Ipswich, which is more than a hundred miles from the towns in Warwickshire, and more than a hundred miles from the Yorkshire towns, a luminous object was seen upon the night of the 21st. Ipswich Evening Star, February 25--- something that carried a searchlight that had been seen upon the nights of the 21st and 24th, moving in various directions, and then 'dashing off at lightning speed' ---that, at Hunstanton, had been three bright lights traveling from the eastern sky, remaining in sight 30 minutes, stationary, or hovering over the town, and then disappearing in the northwest.Portsmouth Evening News, February 25--- that soon after 8 p.m., evening of the 24th, had been seen a very bright light, appearing and disappearing, remaining over Portsmouth about one hour, and then moving away. Portsmouth and Ipswich are about 120 miles apart. In the London newspapers, it is said that, upon the evening of the 25th, crowds stood in the streets of Hull, watching something in the sky, 'the lights of which were easily distinguishable.' Hull is about 190 miles northeast of Portsmouth. Hull Daily Mail, February 26--- that a crowd had watched a light high in the air. It is said that the light had been stationary for almost half an hour and had then shot away northward. In the Times, February 28, are published reports upon 'the clear outlines of an airship, which was carrying a dazzling searchlight,' from Portlannd, Burcleaves, St.Alban's Head, Papplewich, and the Orkneys. The last account, after a long interval, that I know of, is another report from Capt.Lindsay: that, about 9 o'clock, evening of April 8th, he and many other persons had seen, over Cardiff, something that carried a bright light and traveled at a rate of sixty or seventy miles an hour." (Pages 514-515)

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Report From France

     "May 1, 1908, between 8 and 9 p.m., at Vittel, France--- an object, with a nebulosity around it, diameter equal to the moon's, according to a correspondent to Cosmos, n.s., 58-535. At 9 o'clock a black band appeared upon the object, and moved obliquely across it, then disappearing. The Editor thinks that the object was the planet Venus, under extraordinary meteorological conditions." (Page 488)

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Silhoutted Against The Sun

      "Feb.7, 1802 ---an unknown body that was seen, by Fritsch, of Magdeburg, to cross the sun. ...Oct.10, 1802 --- an unknown dark body was seen by Fritsch, rapidly crossing the sun..." (Page 391) "Jan.6, 1818--- an unknown body that crossed the sun, according to Loft, of Ipswich; observed about three hours and a half (Quar.Jour.Roy.Inst., 5-117)." (Page 393) "Five unknown bodies that were seen upon June 26, 1819, crossing the sun, according to Gruithuisen (An.Sci.Disc., 1860-411). Also, upon this day, Pastoroff saw something that he thought was a comet, which was then somewhere near the sun..." (Page 393) "Oct.23, 1822--- two unknown dark bodies crossing the sun; observed by Pastoroff (An.Sci.Disc., 1860-411)" (Page 395)
     "In L'Astronomie, 1887-426, MM.Codde and Payan, both of them astronomers, well-known for their conventional observations and writings, publish accounts of an unknown body that appeared upon the sun's limb, for twenty or thirty seconds, after the eclipse of Aug.19, 1887. They saw a round body, apparent diameter about one tenth of the apparent diameter of the sun, according to the sketch that is published. In L'Astronomie, these two observers write separately, and, in the city of Marseilles, their observations were made at a distance apart. But the unknown body was seen by both upon the same part of the sun's limb. So it is supposed that it could not have been a balloon, nor a circular cloud nor anything else very near this earth. But many astronomers in other parts of Europe were watching the eclipse, and it seems acceptable that others, besides two in Marseilles, continued to look, immediately after the eclipse; but from nowhere else came a report upon this object, so that all indications are that it was far from the sun and near Marseilles, but farther than clouds or balloons in this local sky. I can draw no diagram that can satisfy all these circumstances, except by supposing the sun to be only a few thousand miles away." (Page 445)
     "Nature, 58-294: That, upon July 8, 1898, a correspondent had seen, at Kiel, an object in the sky, colored red by the sun, which had set. It was about as broad as a rainbow, and about twelve degrees high. 'It remained in its original brightness about five minutes, and then faded rapidly, and then remained almost stationary again, finally disappearing about eight minutes after I first saw it.'" (Pages 261-262)
     "According to Webb, astronomers have looked at great obscurations upon the sun, have turned away, and then looked again, finding no trace of the phenomena. Eclipses are special circumstances, and rather often have large, unknown bulks been revealed by different light-effects during eclipses. For instance, upon Jan.22, 1898, Lieut.Blackett, R.N., assisting Sir Norman Lockyer, at Viziadrug, India, during the total eclipse of the sun, saw an unknown body between Venus and Mars (Jour.Leeds Astro.Soc.,1906-23). (Page 489)

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Cigar-Shaped Objects

    "We now have several observations upon cylindrical-shaped bodies that have appeared in this earth's atmosphere: cylindrical, but pointed at both ends, or torpedo-shaped. Some of the accounts are not very detailed, but out of the bits of description my own acceptance is that super-geographical routes are traveled by torpedo-shaped super-constructions that have occasionally visited, or that have occasionally been driven into this earth's atmosphere. From data, the acceptance is that upon entering this earth's atmosphere, these vessels have been so racked that had they not sailed away, disintegration would have occurred: that, beofre leaving this earth, they have, whether in attempted communication or not, or in mere wantonness or not, dropped objects, which did almost immediately disintegrate or explode. Upon general principles we think that explosives have not been purposely dropped, but that parts have been racked off, and have fallen, exploding like the things called 'ball lightning.' May have been objects of stone or metal with inscriptions upon them, for all we know, at present. In all instances, estimates of dimensions are valueless, but ratios of dimensions are more acceptable. A thing said to have been six feet long may have been six hundred feet long; but shape is not so subject to the illusions of distance." (Page 291)
     "A formation having the shape of a dirigible.' It was reported from Huntington, West Virginia (Sci.Amer., 115-241). Luminous object that was seen July 19, 1916, at about 11 p.m. Observed through 'rather powerful field glasses,' it looked to be about two degrees long and half a degree wide. It gradually dimmed, disappeared, reappeared, and then faded out of sight." (Page 291)
     "L'Annee Scientifique, 1864-54: That, Oct.10, 1864, M.Leverrier had sent to the Academy three letters from witnesses of a long luminous body, tapering at both ends, that had been seen in the sky. In Thunder and Lightning, p.87, Flammarion says that in Aug.20, 1880, during a rather violent storm, M.A.Trecul, of the French Academy, saw a very brilliant yellowish-white body, apparently 35 to 40 centimeters long and about 25 centimeters wide. Torpedo-shaped. Or a cylindrical body, 'with slightly conical ends.' It dropped something, and disappeared in the clouds. Whatever it may have been that was dropped, it fell vertically, like a heavy object, and left a luminous train. The scene of this occurrence may have been far from the observer. No sound was heard." (Page 292)
     "July 2, 1907, in the town of Burlington, Vermont, a terrific explosion had been heard throughout the city. A ball of light, or a luminous object, had been seen to fall from the sky--- or from a torpedo-shaped thing, or construction, in the sky. ... The following story is told, in the Review, by Bishop John S.Michaud: 'I was standing on the corner of Church and College Streets, just in front of the Howard Bank, facing east, engaged in conversation with Ex-Governor Woodbury and Mr.A.A.Buell, when, without the slightest indication, or warning, we were startled by what sounded like a most unusual and terrific explosion, evidently very nearby. Raising my eyes, and looking eastward along College Street, I observed a torpedo-shaped body, some 300 feet away, stationary in appearance, and suspended in the air, about 50 feet above the tops of the buildings. In size it was about 6 feet long by 8 inches in diameter, the shell, or covering, having a dark appearance, with here and there tongues of fire issuing from spots on the surface, resembling red-hot, unburnished copper. Although stationary when first noticed, this object soon began to move, rather slowly, and disappeared over Dolan Brother's store, southward. As it moved, the covering seemed rupturing in places, and through these the intensely red flames issued.' Bishop Michaud attempts to correlate it with meteorological observations." (Pages 292-293)
     "E.W. Maunder, invited by the Editors of the Observatory to write some reminiscences for the 500th number of their magazine, gives one that he says stands out (Observatory, 39-214). It is upon something that he terms 'a strange celestial visitor.' Maunder was at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Nov.17, 1882, at night. There was an aurora, without features of special interest. In the midst of the aurora, a great circular disk of greenish light appeared and moved smoothly across the sky. But the circularity was evidently the effect of foreshortening. The thing passed above the moon, and was, by other observers, described as 'cigar-shaped,' 'like a torpedo,' 'a spindle,' 'a shuttle.' He says: 'Had the incident occurred a third of a century later, beyond doubt everyone would have selected the same simile--- it would have been 'just like a Zeppelin.' ' The duration was about two minutes. Color said to have been the same as that of the auroral glow in the north. Nevertheless, Maunder says that this thing had no relation to auroral phenomena. 'It appeared to be a definite body.' Motion too fast for a cloud, but 'nothing could be more unlike the rush of a meteor.' In the Philosophical Magazine, 5-15-318, J.Rand Capron, in a lengthy paper, alludes throughout to this phenomenon as an 'auroral beam,' but he lists many observations upon its 'torpedo-shape,' and one observation upon a 'dark nucleus' in it--- host of most confusing observations --- estimates of height between 40 and 200 miles--- observations in Holland and Belgium. We are told that according to Capron's spectroscopic observations the phenomenon was nothing but a beam of auroral light. In the Observatory, 6-192, is Maunder's contemporaneous account. He gives apparent approximate length and breadth at twenty-seven degrees and three degrees and a half. He gives other observations seeming to indicate structure--- 'remarkable dark marking down the center.' In nature, Capron says that because if the moonlight he had been able to do little with the spectroscope. Color white, but aurora rose (Nature, 27-87). Bright stars seen through it, but not at the zenith, where it looked opaque. This is the only assertion of transparency (Nature, 27-87). Too slow for a meteor, but too fast for a cloud (Nature, 27-87). 'Surface had a mottled appearance' 9Nature, 27-87). 'Very definite in form, like a torpedo' (Nature, 27-100). 'Probably a meteoric object' (Dr.Groneman, Nature, 27-296.) Technical demonstration by Dr.Groneman, that it was a cloud of meteoric matter (Nature, 28-105). 'Very little doubt it was an electric phenomenon' (Proctor, Knowledge, 2-419). In the London Times, Nov.20, 1882, the Editor says that he had received a great number of letters upon this phenomenon. He publishes two. One correspondent describes it as 'well-defined and shaped like a fish...extraordinary and alarming.' The other correspondent writes of it as 'a most magnificent luminous mass, shaped somewhat like a torpedo.'" (Pages 293-294)

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Clouds

    "In Nature, 90-169, Charles Tilden Smith writes that, at Chisbury, Wiltshire, England, April 8, 1912, he saw something in the sky--- 'unlike anything that I have ever seen before.' 'Although I have studied the skies for many years, I have never seen anything like it.' He saw two stationary dark patches upon the clouds. The extraordinary part: They were stationary upon clouds that were rapidly moving. They were fan-shaped--- or triangular--- and varied in size, but kept the same position upon different clouds as cloud after cloud came along. For more than half an hour Mr.Smith watched these dark patches--- His impression as to the one that appeared first: That it was 'really a heavy shadow cast upon a thin veil of clouds by some unseen object away in the west, which was intercepting the sun's rays.' Upon page 244, of this volume of Nature, is a letter from another correspondent, to the effect that similar shadows are cast by mountains upon clouds, and that no doubt Mr.Smith was right in attributing the appearance to 'some unseen object, which was intercepting the sun's rays.' ... Upon page 268, Charles J.P.Cave, the meteorologist, writes that, upon April 5 and 8, at Ditcham Park, Petersfield, he had observed a similar appearance, while watching some pilot balloons--- but he describes something not in the least like a shadow on clouds, but a stationary cloud--- the inference seems to be that the shadows at Chisbury may have been shadows of pilot balloons." But "the dark patches of Chisbury could not have been cast by stationary pilot balloons that were to the west, or that were between clouds and the setting sun" because "...if, to the west of Chisbury, a stationary object were high in the air, intercepting the sun's rays, the shadow of the stationary object would not have been stationary, but would have moved higher and higher with the setting of the sun. ...If a stationary balloon will, in half an hour, not cast a stationary shadow from the setting sun, we have to think of two triangular objects that accurately maintained positions in a line between sun and clouds, and at the same time approached and receded from clouds. Whatever it may have been, it's enough to make the devout make the sign of the crucible..." (Pages 266-268)
      "Monthly Weather Review, 41-599: Description of a shadow in the sky, of some unseen body, April 8, 1913, Fort Worth, Texas---supposed to have been cast by an unseen cloud--- this patch of shade moved with the declining sun."(Page 268)
      "Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 1-157: Extract from the log of the bark Lady of the Lake, by Capt.F.W.Banner: Communicated by R.H.Scott, F.R.S.#&058; That, upon the 22nd of March, 1870 ...the sailors of the Lady of the Lake saw a remarkable object, or 'cloud,' in the sky. They reported to the captain. According to Capt.Banner, it was a cloud of circular form, with an included semicircle divided into four parts, the central dividing shaft beginning at the center of the circle and extending far outward, and then curving backward. Geometricity and complexity and stability of form: and the small likelihood of a cloud maintaining such diversity of features, to say nothing of appearance of organic form. The thing traveled from a point at about 20 degrees above the horizon to a point about 80 degrees above. Then it settled down to the northeast, having appeared from the south, southeast. Light gray in color, or it was cloud-color. 'It was much lower than the other clouds.' And this datum stands out: That, whatever it may have been, it traveled against the wind. 'It came up obliquely against the wind, and finally settled down right in the wind's eye.' For half an hour this form was visible. When it did finally disappear that was not because it disintegrated like a cloud, but because it was lost to sight in the evening darkness." (Pages 279-280)

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Triangular, Square And Globular Objects

    "Rept.Brit.Assoc., 1854-410: Account by two observers of a faint but distinctly triangular object, visible for six nights in the sky. It was observed from two stations that were not far apart. But the parallax was considerable. Whatever it was, it was, acceptably, relatively close to this earth." (Page 268)
      "Nature, Oct.27, 1898: A correspondent writes that, in the County Wicklow, ireland, at about 6 o'clock in the evening, he had seen, in the sky, an object that looked like the moon in its three-quarter aspect. We note the shape which approximates to triangularity, and we note that in color it is said to have been golden yellow. It moved slowly, and in about five minutes disappeared behind a mountain. The Editor gives his opinion that the object may have been an escaped balloon" (Page 261)
      "Mr.A.H.Savage-Landor, in Across Unknown South America, vol.II, p.425, tells a story that was told to him, by the people of Porto Principal, Peru, in January, 1912--- that, some years before, a ship had been seen in the sky, passing over the town, not far above the tree tops. According to his interpretations, it was a 'square globe,' flying a flag of Stars and Stripes. Mr.Savage-Landor thinks that the object might have been the airship, which, upon Oct.17, 1910, Wellman abandoned about 400 miles east of Hatteras. In newspaper accounts of this unsuccessful attempt to cross the Atlantic, it is said that, when abandoned, this airship was leaking gas rapidly. If a vessel from somewhere else, flying the Stars and Stripes, is pretty hard to think of,except by thinking that there Americans are everywhere, also the 'square globe' is not easy, at least for the more conventional of us. Probably these details are faults of interpretation. Whatever this thing in the sky may have been, if we will think that it may have been, it returned at night, and this time it showed lights. " (emphasis mine) (Page 640)
      "In Cosmos,n.s., 39-356, a satisfactory correspondent writes that, at Lille, France, Sept.4, 1898, he saw a red objectin the sky. It was like the planet Mars, but was in the position of no known planet. He looked through his telescope, and saw a rectangluar object, with a violent-colored band on one side of it, and the rest of it striped with black and red. He watched it ten minutes, during which time it was stationary; then...it cast out sparks and disappeared." (Page 486)
      "Report from the observations of three members of his crew by Lieut.Frank H.Schofield, U.S.N., of the U.S.S. supply: Feb.24, 1904. Three luminous objects, of different sizes, the largest having an apparent area of about six suns. When first sighted, they were not very high. They were below clouds of an estimated height of about one mile. They fled, or they evaded, or they turned. They went up high into the clouds below which they had, at first, been sighted. Their unison of movement. But they were of different sizes, and of different susceptibilities to all forces of this earth and of the air." (Page 298)

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Luminous Objects
The Fleet / Brown Mountain Lights / "Luminous Owls" Story
/ Will-O'-The-Wisps / Miscellaneous

The Fleet

"Jour.Roy.Astro.Soc.of Canada, November and December, 1913: That, according to many observations collected by Prof.Chant, of Toronto, there appeared, upon the night of Feb.9, 1913, a spectacle that was seen in Canada, the United States, and at sea, and in Bermuda. A luminous body was seen. To it there was a long tail. The body grew rapidly larger. 'Observers differ as to whether the body was single, or was composed of three or four parts, with a tail to each part.' The group, or complex structure, moved with 'a peculiar majestic deliberation.' It disappeared in the distance, and another group emerged from its place of origin. Onward they moved, at the same deliberate pace, in twos or threes or fours.' They disappeared. A third group, or a third structure, followed. Some observers compared the spectacle to a fleet of airships: others to battleships attended by cruisers and destroyers. According to one writer: 'There were probably 30 or 32 bodies, and the peculiar thing about them was their moving in fours and threes and twos, abreast of one another; and so perfect was the lining up that you would have thought it was an aerial fleet maneuvering after rigid drilling.'" (Pages 296-297)

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Brown Mountain Lights

     "From time to time, luminous objects, or beings, have often been reported from Brown Mountain, North Carolina. They appear, and then for a long time are not seen, and then they appear again. ...The luminosities travel, as if with motions of their own. They are brilliant, globular forms, and move in the sky with a leisureliness and duration that exclude the explanation in meteoric terms. For many years, there had been talk upon this subject, and then, in the year 1922, people of North Carolina, asking for a scientific investigation, were referred to the United States Geological Survey. A geologist was sent from Washington to investigate these things in the sky. One imagines, but most likely only faintly, the superiority of this geologist from Washington. He heard stories from the natives. He contrasted his own sound principles with the irresponsible gab of denizens, and went right to the investigation, scientfically. he went out on a road, and saw lights, and made his report. 47% of the lights that he saw were automobile headlights; 33% of them were locomotive headlights; 10% were lights in houses, and 10% were bush fires. Tot that up, and see that efficiency can't go further. The geologist from Washington, having investigated nothing that he had been sent to investigate, returned to Washington..." (Page 624)

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The "Luminous Owls" Story

     "In Knowledge, September, 1913, Count de Sibour ...told a story of foolish, credulous people, in North Norfolk, England, who, in the winter of 1907-8, believed that a pair of shining things, moving about the field, could not be explained as he explained them. We are told of a commonplace ending of this alleged mystery: that finally a gamekeeper shot one of these objects, and found that it was a common barn owl, phosphorescent with decayed wood from its nesting place, or with a fungus disease of its feathers. According to other accounts, these things were as brilliant as electric lights. But a phosphorescent owl could not shine with a light like an electric light. So De Sibour described the light as 'a pale, yellow glow,' such as a phosphorescent owl could shine with. ...De Sibour knew nothing about this subject, from his own experiences. We go to the same records to which he went. Like him, we find just about what we want to find. In the London Times, Dec.10, 1907, and in following issues, are accounts of these luminous objects, which were flying about fields of North Norfolk, having been reported by Mr.R.W.Purdy, a well-known writer upon biologic subjects. Among other attempts to assimilate with the known, or among other expressions of a world-wide antipathy to the finding out of anything new, was the idea that owls are sometimes luminous. The idea came first, or the solution to the problem was published first, and then the problem was fitted to the solution. ...De Sibour and others fitted in a story that a luminous owl had been shot. I think that at times there may be faintly luminous owls...Shining things, flying like birds, in the fields of North Norfolk continued to be reported. The brilliant things looked elctric. When they rested on trees, everything around them was illuminated. Purdy's descriptions are very different from 'a pale, yellow glow.' Upon the night of December 1st, he saw something that he thought was the lamp of a motor cycle, moving rapidly towards him, in a field, stopping, then rising several yards, moving higher, and then retreating. It moved in various directions. ...De Sibour was uncareful, in his mystery-squelching story, his bobbed story, a story, that forced a mystery to a commonplace ending. No gamekeeper shot a luminous owl, at this time, in North Norfolk. But somebody did say that he had conventionally solved the mystery. Eastern Daily Press (Norwich), Feb.7, 1908--- that, early in the morning of the 5th, Mr.E.S.Cannell, of Lower Hellesdon, saw something shining on a grass bank. According to him, it fluttered up to him, and he found that it was the explanation of a mystery. It was a luminous owl, he said: and, as told by him, he carried it to his home, where it died, 'still luminous.' But see the Press of the 8th--- that Mr.Cannell's dead owl had been taken to a taxidermist, who had been interviewed. Of course a phosphoresence of a bird, whether from decayed wood, or feather fungi, would be independent of life or death of the bird. Questioned as to whether the body of the owl was luminous or not, the taxidermist said: 'I have seen nothing luminous about it.' In zoological journals, one frequently comes upon allusions to these things, or beings, of North Norfolk. No gamekeeper killed one of them, but the story of the gamekeeper who had killed a luminous owl is told in these records that are said to be scientific. It is not necessary that a gamekeeper should kill a luminous owl, and so put an end to a mystery. A story that he did will serve just as well. The finding, or the procuring in some way or another, of the body of an owl, did not put an end to the mystery, except in most of the records, that are said to be scientific. There were at first two lights, and there continued to be two lights. The brilliant things continued to be seen in the field, flitting about, appearing and disappearing. The last observation findable by me (May 3, 1908) is recorded in the Trans.Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, 8-550. Purdy records an observation upon the two lights, seen together, more than a month after the date upon which Mr.Cannell said that his owl fluttered right up to him. Something else was reported, in this region. In the eastern Daily Press, Jan.28, 1908, it is said that, at night--- moon bright--- 'a dark, globular object, with a structure of some kind upon the side of it, traveling at a great pace,' had been seen in the sky, by employees of the Norwich Transportation Company, at Mousehead. 'It seemed too large for a kite, and, besides, its movements seemed under control, for it was traveling against the wind.' " (Pages 625-627)

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Will-O'-The-Wisps

      "I am here noting only a few of the many records of unknown, seemingly living, luminous things that used to be called will-o'-the-wisps. They come and the go, and their reappearances in a small region make me think of other localized repetitions that we have noted. London Daily Express, February 15, and the following issues, 1923--- brilliant, luminous things moving across fields, sometimes high in the air, at Fenny Compton, Warwickshire. They were 'intense lights,' like automobile headlights. Sometimes these luminous things, or beings, hovered over a farmhouse. It was a deserted farmhouse, according to the London Daily News, February 13. About a year later, one of these objects, or whatever they were, returned , and was reported as 'a swiftly moving light,' by several persons, one of them Miss Olive Knight, a school teacher, of Fenny Compton (London Sunday News, Jan.27, 1924)." (Page 628)
     "The Earl of Erne tells, in the London Daily Mail, Dec.24, 1912, of brilliant luminosities that, from time to time, in a period of seven or eight years, had been appearing near Lough Erne, Londonderry, Ireland, 'in size and shape very much like a motor car lamp.' In later issues of the Daily Mail, the Countess of Erne tells of these things, or creatures, 'like motor car lamps, large and round.'" (Page 628)

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Miscellaneous

     "Rept.Brit.Assoc., 1860-77&058; That at Cherbourg, France, Jan.12, 1836, was seen a luminous body, seemingly two-thirds the size of the moon. Central to it there seemed to be a dark cavity." (Pages 274-275) ...Upon the morning of Dec.20,1893, an appearance in the sky was seen by many persons in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. A luminous body passed overhead, from west to east, until about 15 degrees in the eastern horizon, it appeared to stand still for fifteen or twenty minutes. According to some descriptions it was the size of a table. To some observers it looked like an enormous wheel. The light was a brilliant white. Acceptably it was not an optical illusion--- the noise of its passage through the air was heard. Having been stationary, or having seemed to stand still fifteen or twenty minutes, it disappeared, or exploded. No sound of explosion was heard. ...Vast wheel-like constructions. ...Sometimes, because of miscalculations, or because of stresses of various kinds, they enter this earth's atmosphere. They're likely to explode. They have to submerge in the sea. They stay in the sea awhile, revolving with relative leisureliness, until relieved, and then emerge, sometimes close to vessels. Seamen tell of what they see: their reports are interred in scientific morgues. I should say that the general route of these constructions is along latitudes not far from the latitudes of the Persian Gulf." (emphasis mine) (Page 275)
     "...Early in February, 1892, a luminous thing traveled back and forth, exploring for ten hours in the sky of Sweden. The story is copied from a newspaper, and ridiculed, in the English Mechanic, 55-34. Upon March 7, 1893, a luminous object shaped like an elongated pear was seen in the sky of Val-de-la-Haye, by M.Raimond Coulon (L'Astro., 1893-169). M.Coulon's suggestion is that the light may have been a signal suspended from a balloon." (Page 485)
     "Upon March 2, 1899, a luminous object in the sky, from 10 a.m., until 4 p.m., was reported from El Paso, Texas. Mentioned in the Observatory, 22-247--- supposed to have been Venus, even though Venus was then two months past secondary maximum brilliance. This seems reasonable enough, in itself, but there are other data for thinking that an unknown, luminous body was at this time in the especial sky of the southwestern states. In the U.S. Weather Bureau Report (Ariz.Sec., March, 1899) it is said that, at Prescott, Arizona, Dr.Warren E.Day had seen a luminous object, upon the 8th of March, 'that traveled with the moon' all day, until 2 p.m. It is said that, the day before, this object had been seen close to the moon, by Mr.G.O.Scott, at Tonto, Arizona. Dr.Day and Mr.Scott were voluntary observers for the Weather Review. This association with the moon and this localization of observation are puzzling." (Page 487)
     "La Nature (Sup.) Nov.11, 1899--- That at Luzarches, France, upon the 28th of October, 1899, M.A.Garrie had seen, at 4:50p.m., a round, luminous object rising above the horizon. About the size of the moon. He watched it for 15 minutes, as it moved away, diminishing to a point. It may be that something from external regions was for several weeks in the especial sky of France. In La Nature (Sup.) Dec.16, 1899, someone writes that he had seen, Nov.15, 1899, 7 p.m., at Dourite (Dordogne) an object like an enormous star, at times white, then red, and sometimes blue, but moving like a kite. It was in the south. He had never seen it before. Someone, in the issue of December 30th, says that without doubt it was the star Formalhaut, and asks for precise position. Issue of Jan.20, 1900--- the first correspondent says that the object was in the southwest, about 35 degrees above the horizon, but moving so that the precise position could not be stated. The kite-like motion may have been merely seeming motion--- object may have been Formalhaut, though 35 degrees above the horizon seems to me to be too high for Formalhaut--- but, then, like the astronomers, I'm likely at times to expose what I don't know about astronomy. Formalhaut is not as enormous star. Seventeen are larger." (Page 487)

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