Wonders in the Sky (59 page)

23 February 1740, Toulon, France
Rising purple globe plunges, releases balls of fire

During the night of 23 to 24 February people saw a purple “globe of fire” that rose gradually, and then appeared to plunge into the sea, where it rebounded. Reaching a certain height, it blew up and spread several balls of fire over the sea and the mountains. It made a sound like that of a violent thunderclap or a bomb as it burst. The witnesses reported the event to the Marquis de Caumont.

 

Source:
Histoire de l'Académie des Sciences
, 1740.

332.

23 October 1740, England
Unknown planetoid orbiting Venus

Astronomer and mathematician James Short, one of the most prolific telescope makers of the 18
^th
century, reported his observation of what he thought was a satellite of Venus (later called “Neith” by Hozeau). The heliocentric longitude of Venus was 68° and its elongation 46°.

 

Source: “The Problematical Satellite of Venus,” in
The Observatory
7 (1884): 222-226.

333.

16 December 1743, London, England
Slow, waving ‘rocket'

A correspondent of the Royal Society reports on an unusual sighting in these terms:

“As I was returning home from the Royal Society to Westminster, (at) 8h 40m, being about the Middle of the Parade in St. James Park, I saw a Light arise from behind the Trees and Houses in the S. by W. point, which I took at first for a large Sky-Rocket; but when it had risen to the Height of about 20 Degrees, it took a motion nearly parallel to the Horizon, but waved in this manner, and went on to the N. by E. Point over the Houses.

“It seemed to be so very near, that I thought it passed over Queen's Square, the Island in the Park, cross the Canal, and I lost Sight of it over the Haymarket.
Its Motion was so very slow, that I had it above half a Minute in View
; and therefore had Time enough to contemplate its Appearance fully, which was what is seen in the annexed Figure.”

“A seemed to be a light Flame, turning backwards from the Resistance the Air made to it. BB a bright Fire like burning Charcoal, enclosed as it were in a open Case, of which the Frame CCC was quite opaque, like Bands of Iron. At D issued forth a Train or Tail of light Flame, more bright at D, and growing gradually fainter at E, so as to be transparent more than half its Length. The Head seemed about half a Degree in Diameter, the Tail near 3 Degrees in Length, and about one Eighth of a Degree in Thickness.”

Note: Given such a precise observer, it is difficult to call this phenomenon an ordinary meteor.

Fig. 31: “Waving rocket” in London

‘Slow' meteors are known to exist but they are poorly explained: Camille Flammarion called them
bradytes
but he acknowledged they were extremely rare. If this happened today we would suspect a satellite re-entry, but there was no such thing in 1743.

 

Source:
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
43 (1745): 524.

334.

23 June 1744, Knott, Scotland: Armed men in the sky

Twenty-six witnesses, including a judge, observed a troop of armed men in the sky above a hill: “A man named D. Stricket, then servant to Mr. Lancaster, of Blakehills, saw, one evening about 7 o'clock, a troop of horses riding leisurely along Souter Fell in Cumberland.”

After he called his master, “Mr. Lancaster discovered the aerial troopers,” who became visible near a place called Knott. They were in sight for two hours and “this phenomenon was seen by every person (twenty-six in number) in every cottage within the distance of a mile.”

 

Source: Statement attested before a magistrate by Lancaster and Stricket on the 21st of July, 1745. See “Phantom Armies” in Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
Sentinel
, November 1, 1871 citing
A Folio of Apparitions and Wonders
, preserved in the British Museum; also,
Arminian Magazine, consisting chiefly of extracts and original treatises on universal redemption
18 (May, 1795): 244-245.

335.

14 July 1745, London, England: Flying trumpet

Reverend George Costard reported seeing an object shaped like a trumpet, flying over Stanlake Broad about 8 P.M.

 

Source: “Part of a Letter from The Rev. Mr. Geo. Costard to Mr. John Catlin, concerning a Fiery Meteor seen in the Air…”
Philosophical Transactions
43 (1744-1745): 522-524.

336.

5 August 1748, Aberdeen, Scotland
Three globes of light

Eleven witnesses swore before the city council of Aberdeen they had observed three globes of light, men and armies in the sky, at 2 P.M. in a valley located five miles west of the city. They first assumed the three globes of light were meteorological in nature, but their intensity increased, and twelve tall men then appeared, dressed in bright clothes. They walked across the valley, followed by two armies that appeared to re-enact the battle of Culloden, near Inverness, which had taken place on 16 April 1746.

In cases of “armies in the sky” and heavenly battles we generally suspect an aurora, but the timing of this sighting (early afternoon) excludes this interpretation.

 

Source:
Flying Saucer Review
32, vol. 17, no. 6 (1971), citing a letter by Roger Sandell, in
Culloden
by John Prebble (chapter 7). Another letter dated September 5, 1748, relates this story and mentions the “three globes of light”. This source, signed R. F. (Robert Forbes), cites an extract from an older letter dated August 20, 1748, in which “a gentleman of Aberdeen” writes to his correspondent in Edinburgh about the visionary battle that took place on August 5, 1748. See
The Lyon in mourning, a collection of speeches, letters, journals, etc. relative to the affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, by the Rev. Robert Forbes, A.M., Bishop of Ross and Caithness, 1746-1775.
Edited from his Manuscript by Henry Paton, vol. II (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1895), 181-182.

337.