Wonders in the Sky (81 page)

 

Source: Flammarion,
Bradytes
, op. cit., 159.

487.

24 April 1874, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Dazzling white object in front of the moon

Professor Schafarik observed “an object of so peculiar a character that I do not know what to make of it.”

He was observing the three-quarter moon at about 3:30 in the afternoon in bright sunshine, using a 4-inch achromatic telescope by Dancer with power 66, field 34 minutes of arc, when: “I was surprised by the apparition, on the disc of the moon, of a dazzling white star, which travelled slowly from E.S.E. to W.N.W and after leaving the bright disc, shone on the deep blue sky like Sirius or Vega in daylight and fine air. The star was quite sharp and without a perceptible diameter.”

 

Source: “Telescopic Meteors” in
The Astronomical Register
273, (September 1885): 205-211. Professor Schafarik discusses the frequency and appearance of telescopic meteors, which he places into four classes, for which he hypothesizes various explanations, ranging from faint shooting stars at the limit of the atmosphere to such mundane objects as birds, bats, the pappus of various seeds and “convolutions of gossamer.” He was genuinely puzzled, however, by the above observation.

488.

Ca. 17 February 1875, Pwllhi, Caernarvonshire, Wales
Eight lights on erratic trajectories

A reader of the Field newspaper reports that eight lights were seen at once, at an estimated distance of 8 miles, moving in “horizontal, perpendicular and zigzag directions. Sometimes they were a light blue colour, then like the bright light of a carriage lamp, then almost like an electric light, and going out altogether, in a few minutes [they] would appear dimly again, and come up as before.”

 

Source:
Notes and Queries
, 17 April 1875.
London Times
of 5 October 1877 gives the name of the witness as Mr. Picton Jones.

489.

About 12 January 1876, Sheridan, Pennsylvania
Gliding light and human figure

A man who was riding home on horseback at night had trouble controlling his terrified horse when they were faced with a bright light on the bank of a creek. Very bright at first, the light decreased in intensity, appearing to recede in the process. Urging the animal to move forward, the witness saw the light again in a field, borne by what appeared to be a human figure clothed in white that glided along the ground. When it came within 100 yards the horse dashed forward, almost unseating the witness.

 

Source:
Reading Eagle
(Pennsylvania), quoted in the
St. Louis Democrat
(Missouri), 17 January 1876.

490.

4 April 1876, Peckleloh, Germany: Planetary mystery

Mr. Weber, of Berlin, observed what he believed to be an intra-mercurial planetoid. The time of the observation was 4:25 A.M. Berlin Mean Time. Astronomer Wolf reported this sighting to Le Verrier in August 1876.

 

Source: “Les Planètes entre le Soleil et Mercure”
Année Scientifique et Industrielle
20 (1876): 6-11, at 7.

491.

17 March 1877, Gunnersbury, England
Long-lasting red celestial unknown

A large red “star” was witnessed in the sky about 8:55 P.M. in the constellation of Serpens. It seemed to be brighter than Arcturus. After no less than 10 minutes it began to “increase and diminish in magnitude two or three times,” giving the impression that it was flashing, after which it disappeared.

 

Source:
Nature
15 (March 1877): 451.

492.

23 March 1877, Vence, France
Luminous balls emerge from a cloud-like formation

A number of lights appeared in the sky, described as balls of fire of dazzling brightness. They emerged from a cloud about a degree in diameter and moved relatively slowly. They were visible more than an hour, moving northward.

 

Source: “Eclairs en boule observés à Vence, en Provence” in
Année Scientifique et Industrielle
21 (1877): 45-6.

493.

7 September 1877, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Five luminous objects in the sky, stationary

Mr. John Graham “had his attention arrested by a sudden light in the heavens, and upon looking up he saw a stationary meteor between Aquila and Anser et Vulpecula, about right ascension 295°, declination 15°N. It increased in brightness for a second or more, and disappeared within less than half a degree east of the point in which it was first seen. Immediately after the extinction of the first, three others, separated by intervals of three or four seconds, appeared and vanished in the same place; with the exception that one disappeared about as much west of the radiant as the first did to the east of it. Mr. Graham's curiosity was excited and he continued to watch till, after an interval of a few minutes, a fifth meteor, corresponding in appearance to the preceding, was seen in the same place. The meteors resembled stars of the first magnitude.”

A possible interpretation of this observation would be an exceedingly unlikely train of identical meteorites falling directly in the direction of the observer over a period of several minutes.

 

Source:
Scientific American
, 29 Sept. 1877, New Series, 37: 193.

494.