The Decatur Daily Republican of April 16, 1897, noted that on the previous night, an airship landed near Springfield, Illinois. Farmhand John Halley and local vineyard owner Adolf Wenke said that it landed five kilometres west of the city along the Jefferson Street road. They said a long-bearded man then emerged and inquired what town he was near. Halley noted: “Inside the car was seated another man and also the scientist’s wife.” He said they usually rested during the daytime in remote parts of the country in order to conceal the vessel’s huge wings. When they asked the scientist his name, “he smiled and pointed to the letter M., which was painted on the side car.” After bidding the farmers farewell, he pressed a button and the ship flew off.
The Chicago Times-Herald for Tuesday, March 30, 1897, noted:
The mysterious air ship was seen again last night by a number of Omaha people. It hovered in sight about the time church services were over and in half an hour had disappeared.
This time the “air ship” came into view in the southeastern portion of the horizon. It was in the shape of a big bright light, too big for a balloon, and glowed steadily.
It sailed over the city to the northwest and there disappeared behind the houses and bluffs. It moved very slowly and seemed to be quite near the earth. Nothing but the light was visible. A big crowd at Twenty-fourth and Lake Streets watched the trip of the visitor.
DID YOU KNOW?
Before he was president, Jimmy Carter saw a UFO on January 6, 1969. He and 10 other people were in Leary, Georgia, when they all saw a light moving in the sky at about 7:15 p.m., flashing red and green. Skeptics have dismissed the UFO as Venus, but Carter has not conceded it was an ordinary object.
In Winnipeg, Canada, on July 1, 1896, at about 6:00 p.m., many residents observed an odd “balloon” come from the west and make a “rapid journey some thousands of feet above the Earth.” It was said to have been larger than a child’s toy balloon, but the same size as those used for “ascensions at River Park.” Tethered balloon rides were a popular attraction and novelty in 1896.
Canada was invaded by more American-style airships in 1897, when on April 14, a “specter” with attached lights “as large as the Moon” flew from North Dakota towards Glenboro, Manitoba, at an estimated speed of “365 miles per hour.” Then on May 1, “the light of the strange vessel came into view about nine o’clock on the eastern horizon, near the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg.” It moved over the city, then headed northwest, towards Stony Mountain.
The witness reported: “Only the bare outline of some dark object could be seen besides the strange, heavenly light, evidently from the ‘masthead’ of the aerial craft.” This time, the strange vehicle was seen by many reputable citizens, including the lieutenant governor of the province, the Honorable James Colebrooke Patterson, who curiously enough had just completed a term as federal minister of militia and defence.
Sightings were reported across the country. On August 14, 1897, the Vancouver Daily World prodded its readers:
Have You Seen the Light in the Heavens? If Not You Are Not up to Date!
It has been hovering in the skies above Vancouver almost every night this week, and has been viewed by many. It was last seen on Friday evening and may be on view tonight, and again it may not. Last night the strange object in the skies was noticed to the north of the city across the city travelling in an easterly direction. The luminous ball of fire or airship as some call it was closely watched. It approached with great swiftness, paused in midair, then surrounded itself with flashes of color and moved towards the northeast.
The newspaper added, “N. C. Schon of Burnaby saw the luminous body while on the steamer Rithet on Monday night. He states that it moved parallel to the sea far below the star line and looked like a bright red star surrounded by a luminous halo. It was cigar shaped and seemed to travel slowly and occasionally there seemed to drop a shower of sparks like the sputtering of an arc light.”
The Victoria Daily Colonist of August 7, 1897, informed its readers: “That strange aerial curiosity the fire balloon that has been completely mystifying people of the northwest during the past two or three months is evidently becoming bolder or more people are keeping late hours than formerly and in consequence have had the good fortune to catch a glimpse of it. What it is, or where it comes from or where it goes to, and who or what manner of men are responsible for its movements, remains just as much as a puzzle as when the bright light first made its appearance in the sky a few months ago.”
The Colonist also noted that some firemen had watched the light for a considerable length of time:
For upwards of two and a half hours Firemen North and Swain of the city brigade had opportunity to inspect the erratic visitor yesterday morning. However when it was finally lost to sight in the morning air they were completely mystified as to all its character as when they first sighted it … It had no discernible form, balloon shape or otherwise, it was just a great light as large from the distance it was viewed as a drum from one of the hose reels, and brighter far, according to the two firemen than an electric light.
… Until four o’clock the brilliant body remained suspended in mid air passing slowly from east to west and back again three times and only disappearing with the coming of the day. At one time the firemen believed they saw a dark body outlined behind the circle of intense light but they could not identify it positively.
Its editors speculated, “The favourite theory is that some local inventor is trying the product of his daring in the privacy of the night, preparatory to giving his secret to the world. It must be a fact that the inventor is the most successful keeper of a secret to appear on the scene for quite some time and yet this seems the most rational explanation put forward. Too many have seen the mid night visitor for people of common sense to doubt the presence of a mysterious something …”
Sightings of odd aerial vehicles and lights continued through that summer.
Many airship reports were fuelled by news stories of the announcement of a Swedish engineer, Salomon Andrée, that he would attempt a balloon flight over the North Pole from Scandinavia into Canada. In July 1897, Andrée’s aerial expedition left the island of North Spitzbergen in a large, well-equipped balloon. Some carrier pigeons were received from the explorers early into the voyage, and then nothing.
Airship sightings were so common in the late 1890s that newspapers used them in their advertisements to sell products.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma July 2, 1953
On July 2, 1953, I saw an object. It was round as a balloon or a dish. As high as it was, it would be hard to say whether it would be metal because anything would reflect the sunlight.
It seemed to stand still, but when I looked through the glasses it seemed to be moving back and forth within a short radius. I couldn’t see anything hanging on it at all. When it left it seemed to go straight up; it did not go sideways. If it had been a balloon it would have burst. There was no sound.
I saw this object between 1830 and 1900; I think about 1845. I watched it for approximately 10 or 15 minutes and it was out of sight. I stayed 10 or 15 minutes longer to see whether or not it would come back. It went out of sight about 1900.
I observed this object through 7x50 binoculars from the ground.
The object was about 5 degrees SW from directly overhead Tinker Air Force Base.
I have had quite a bit of experience observing aircraft in the air; I was in the Air Force for four years and have worked three years on the Guard Force at Tinker Air Force Base. I see quite a bit of aircraft while on duty.
The weather was clear. There was a blue sky background.
The