Wonders in the Sky (70 page)

22 May 1823, Hereford, England
Bright unknown near Venus

Bright shining object observed near Venus, again reported by an experienced astronomer, Reverend T. W. Webb.

Fig. 36: Reverend Webb

Reverend T.W. Webb was the author of
Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes
, a very popular reference book for serious amateur astronomers.

 

Source:
Nature
14: 195.

405.

12 August 1825, at sea near Hawaii, Pacific
Large red round object, wide illumination

English naturalist Andrew Bloxam and others saw a large red luminous object rise, illuminating everything. It fell out of sight, rose and fell again: “About half past 3 o'clock this morning the middle watch on deck was astonished to find everything around them suddenly illuminated.

“Turning their eyes eastward they beheld a large, round, luminous body rising up about 7 degrees apparently from the water to the clouds, and falling again out of sight, and a second time rising and falling: it was the color of a red-hot [cannon] shot and appeared about the size of the sun…It gave so great a light that a pin might be picked up on deck.”

 

Source:
The Diary of Andrew Bloxam
(Honolulu, 1925). As reported in
UFO Investigator
(NICAP) 4, No. 5 (March 1968).

406.

1 April 1826, Saarbrücken, Germany: Gray object

A grayish object, whose size was evaluated at over 1 meter, rapidly approached the ground with a sound like thunder and “expanded like a sheet.”

 

Source:
American Journal of Science and Arts
26 (July 1834): 133;
The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and Art, by the Royal Institution of Great Britain
24 (July to Dec. 1827): 488; E.F.F. Chladni, “Ueber eine merkwürdige meteorische Erscheinung, am 1. April 1826, nicht weit von Saarbrücken”, in
Annalen der Physik
83, no. 7 (Leipzig, 1826): 372-377.

407.

1827, Tietjerk, Friesland, Holland
Fiery man from the sky

A man named Lieuwe Klaasens and a pastor saw a fireball land nearby, taking form as a fiery man who flew up.

 

Source: Kornelius Ter Laan,
Folkloristisch woordenboek van Nederland en Vlaams België,
(‘s-Gravenhage: G. B. Van Goor zonen, 1949).

408.

March 1828, Mount Wingen, Australia
Cigar-shaped object lands

A mysterious flying object was said to have descended upon Mount Wingen at the Burning Mountain Nature Reserve. It was “cigar-shaped and had a funny silver colour” and made a loud banging noise. According to the report, “when it landed it set fire to all the vegetation and killed the cattle.”

Allegedly, tall strangers appeared in the town at the same time. “They never said anything but always pointed to the things they wanted.”

The event must have caused quite a stir as the folk of Wingen began linking it with strange disappearances among them: “Quite often people just disappeared and dogs and domesticated animals disappeared too,” wrote the informant, referring to the tale his grandfather used to tell.

 

Source:
Australian Post
, June 17, 1989, and W. Chalker,
Project 1947: Australian Aboriginal Culture & Possible UFO Connections
(1996).

409.

17 July 1829, Kensington, Pennsylvania, USA
Bright red object crossing the Delaware

Between 11 P.M. and midnight “a meteor of rather singular character” arose from the neighbourhood of the Schuylkill, passed over Kensington and the river Delaware, and disappeared behind the woods of Jersey.

“A long trail of light, like that of a shooting star was seen to follow it in the beginning of its ascension; large sparkles that separated themselves from it and descended slowly, were distinctly visible until hidden from view by the tops of the houses. Its motions were rapid, irregular, and wavering, like the fluttering of a kite or the rocking of an air balloon.

“Its appearance was of a deep red colour, and remarkably brilliant, seemingly about half the size of the moon. It arose until it crossed the Delaware, when it appeared but an inconsiderable speck scarcely discernable, and then descended with astonishing velocity until within a short distance of the horizon, where it remained stationary for a few moments. “Suddenly it became exceedingly large and brilliant, sparkles again separated from the main body, and descended as before. It soon after became dim and disappeared behind the trees. Altogether, I should suppose it was visible about fifteen or twenty minutes.”

 

Source:
Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania
4, 3 (July 18, 1829): 48.

410.

23 July 1830, Whinny Park, near Cupar, Fife, Scotland
Two unknown flashing lights and a beam

As he was travelling from Auchtermuchty to Letham, reverend Alexander Espline noticed a peculiar light hanging in the air above Whinny Park, the property of a wealthy man named James Millie. As he came closer, Espline saw there were actually two lights of unequal brilliance. The smaller one emitted a beam, after which both lights started flashing. Scared by the display, Espline ran away. Two days later, the body of James Millie was found near the site.

An extract from the Edinburgh Observer, published as a broadside, related that Millie was a middle aged man living in a remote area in Whin (Whinny) Park near Cupar, and was murdered sometime in June 1830 by his servant, John Henderson. Henderson was arrested on Sunday 25 July, 1830. It is interesting that the light was not considered related to the murder at the time. Indeed, it tells that “the path was so beaten that, but for an accidental circumstance, the discovery would probably never have been made.”

Flickering lights, often an ignis fatuus, emerge in many medieval stories to indicate a burial or significant site.

 

Source: Elliot O'Donnell,
Ghosts with a purpose
(Rider, 1951); “Horrid murder! A full, true and particular account of that most atrocious and horrid murder…” (1830), National Library of Scotland, NLS F.3.a.13 (108).

411.

14 November 1832, Tyrol, Germany
Hovering object