Wonders in the Sky (82 page)

22 January 1878, Dallas, Texas, USA
Dark object: the very first “flying saucer?”

Mr. John Martin, a farmer who lived some six miles north of town, was out hunting in the morning when his attention was directed to a dark object in the northern sky.

“The peculiar shape, and the velocity with which the object seemed to approach, riveted his attention, and he strained his eyes to discover its character. When first noticed it appeared to be about the size of an orange, which continued to grow in size.”

Going through space at a wonderful speed, it came directly overhead and Mr. Martin compared it to “a large saucer.”

First mentioned in the UFO literature by Major Donald Keyhoe, this use of the word “saucer” by John Martin has triggered many debates among researchers. John Martin's use of the term seems to relate to the size of the object rather than its shape, just as Kenneth Arnold, in 1947, would use it to describe the motion of the crescent-shaped objects he witnessed. It is interesting, nonetheless, that “saucer” should be the word that came to the mind of these men when they tried to describe what they saw. The possibility that Martin observed a balloon must also be considered. The site is more likely to be Dallas than Denison.

 

Source: Denison
Daily News
for 25 January 1878, 1.

495.

c. 1st February 1878, Osceola Township, Iowa, USA
Strange light in the road

A newspaper reported that a strange phenomenon had occurred in Osceola Township, Iowa, one evening the evening the week before. A young man “well known in the community” was crossing the fields when his attention was attracted by a light moving along the road some way ahead. It was “much larger than a lantern,” and it came nearer:

“When the light reached a point in the road nearly opposite him it stopped and came directly toward him with great velocity, until it was within a few feet of him when it stopped. The observer describes it as about the size of a half bushel and of intense brightness. It then rose in the air a distance of several rods and then began to descend where the gentleman stood. He says that he is not usually easily frightened, but he could not account for the strange sight and he retraced his steps to the house he had just left.”

The light followed him up to his neighbor's house, where the witness told of what he had seen. Two men there offered to accompany him home. They started out but the light had apparently disappeared. Then, suddenly, “it again made its appearance and was distinctly seen by all three.” This time it did not approach as closely as before, but would disappear and reappear in an entirely different direction and at a distance from where it was last seen.

The article finishes with the statement that the light was also seen by others in the neighborhood, none of whom could explain the strange occurrence.

 

Source: “Strange Phenomenon,”
Ackley Enterprise
, Iowa, February 8, 1878. The report was originally published in the Hampton Chronicle but as there are no precise details, our date of February 1
^st
is only an estimation.

496.

29 July 1878, Rawlins, Wyoming, USA
Unidentified planetoid observed by two astronomers

Professor Watson has observed a shining object at a considerable distance from the sun during the total eclipse. A confirmatory observation was made by Professor Swift of Denver, Colorado. Astronomer Lockyer commented: “There is little doubt that an Intra-Mercurial planet has been discovered by Professor Watson.”

 

Source: Lewis Swift, “Discovery of Vulcan,”
Nature
18 (19 September 1878): 539. Also
The Observatory
2 (1878): 161-2 and J. Norman Lockyer: “The Eclipse”
Nature
18 (29 August 1878): 457-62, at 461.

497.

30 July 1878, Edwardsville, Kansas, USA
Unknown light rushes down the train tracks

Mr. Timmons, “one of the most substantial farmers and reliable men in Wyancotte county,” reports that “the section men on the K. P. road, on my farm, seeing the storm coming up very fast, got their hand-car on the track and started full speed for Edwardsville. They had run but a little ways when the entire crowd, at the same time, saw coming around the curve of Edwardsville what they supposed to be a locomotive at full speed.

“They jumped down and took their car off the track as fast as possible when they saw it was not a locomotive. Whatever it was came down the track giving off a volume of dense smoke with occasional flashes resembling a head light in the centre of smoke. It came three-fourths of a mile from where they first saw it, then turned off the track at a pile of cordwood, went round it once, then went off in a southwesterly direction, through a thick wood. The section men came running to my house evidently much frightened and bewildered by what they saw.”

Note: globular lightning may have produced this effect, as the ball of plasma could have been guided by the train tracks until it grounded itself. The duration of the phenomenon, however, makes it most unusual.

 

Source:
Atchison Globe
(Kansas), 7 August 1878.

498.

11 August 1878, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, USA
Planetoid passing in front of Jupiter

Two amateur astronomers, Messrs. Gemill and Wampler, observed an unusual celestial object using a 5-inch telescope. At 10:05 P.M. they noticed a dark round spot on the eastern margin of the disc of Jupiter. It moved west, just above the northern belt, parallel with the planet's equator, and passed off the face at 1:24 A.M. on 12 August, having crossed the disk in 3 hours and 19 minutes.

The object appeared as a perfect sphere, much larger than any of Jupiter's satellites. It was well-defined and sharp, most intensely black. The observers commented “it was neither a satellite nor the shadow of one, because all four satellites were in full view all the time.”

Note: Jupiter has other satellites that were unknown at the time, but they are much smaller than the four satellites in question, and could not explain the effect observed.

 

Source:
The Indiana Progress
(Indiana, Pennsylvania), 22 August 1878.

499.

12 April 1879, Manhattanville, New York, USA
Unexplained astronomical phenomenon

“Upon the evening, Mr. Henry Harrison was searching for Brorsen's comet, when he saw an object that was moving so rapidly that it could not have been a comet. He called a friend to look, and his observation was confirmed. At 2 A.M. this object was still visible (…) Mr. Harrison disclaims sensationalism, which he seems to find unworthy, and gives technical details: he says the object was seen by Mr. J. Spencer Devoe, of Manhattanville.”

 

Source: “A Curious astronomical phenomenon” in
Scientific American
n. s., 40: 294;
New York Tribune
, 17 April 1879, 2, c.3; also Henry Harrison's entry in
Scientific American Supplement 7
(21 June 1879): 2884-5.

500.

10 October 1879, Dubuque, Iowa, USA
Large unexplained airship overhead

“People who were up at a very early hour this morning were astonished at seeing what appeared to be a large balloon going over the city. It was seen by quite a number of persons in different parts of the city, and was visible for an hour.”