The climacteric opposition of Mars, of 1909—the last in our records—the next will be in 1924—
Aug. 8, 1909—see Quar. Jour. Met. Soc., n.s., 35-299—flashes in a clear sky that were seen in Epsom, Surrey, and other places in the southeast of England. They could not be attributed to lightning in England. The writer in the Journal finds that there was a storm in France, more than one hundred miles away. For an account of these flashes, tabulated at Epsom—"night fine and starlight"—see Symons’ Met. Mag., 44-148. During each period of five minutes, from 10 to 11:15 P.m., the number of flashes-16-14-20-31-15-26-12-20-30-18-27-22-14-12-10-21-8-5-3-1-0-1-0. With such a time-basis, I can see no possibility of detecting anything of a code-like significance. I do see development. There were similar observations at times in the favorable oppositions of Mars of 1875 and 1877. In 1892, such flashes were noted more particularly. Now we have them noted and tabulated, but upon a basis that could be of interest only to meteorologists. If they shall be seen in 1924, we may have observation, tabulation, and some marvelously different translations of them. After that there will be some intolerably similar translations, suspiciously delayed in publication.
Sept. 23, 1909—opposition of Mars.
Throughout our data, we have noticed successions of appearances in local skies of this earth, that indicate that this earth is stationary, but that also relate to nearest approaches of Mars. Upon the night of Dec. 16-17, 1896, concussion after concussion was felt at Worcester, England; a great "meteor" was seen at the time of the greatest concussion. Mars was seven days past opposition. We thought it likely enough that explosion after explosion had occurred over Worcester, and that something in the sky had been seen only at the time of the greatest, or the nearest, explosion. We did not think well of the conventional explanation that only by coincidence
had a great meteor exploded over a region where a series of earthquakes was occurring, and exactly at the moment of the greatest of these shocks.
In November, 1911, Mars was completing its cycle of changing proximities of a duration of fifteen years, and was duplicating the relationship of the year 1896. About to o'clock, night of Nov. 16, 1911, a concussion that is conventionally said to have been an earthquake occurred in Germany and Switzerland. But plainly there was an explosion in the sky. In the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 3-189, Count Montessus de Ballore writes that he had examined 112 reports upon flashes and other luminous appearances in the sky that had preceded the "earthquake" by a few seconds. He concludes that a great meteor had only happened to explode over a region where, a few seconds later, there was going to be an earthquake. "It therefore seems highly probable that the earthquake coincided with a fall of meteors or of shooting stars."
The duplication of the circumstances of December, 1896, continues. If of course this concussion in Germany and Switzerland was the effect of something that exploded in the sky—of what were the concussions that were felt later, the effects? De Ballore does not mention anything that occurred later. But, a few minutes past midnight, and then again, at 3 o'clock, morning of the 17th, there were other, but slighter, shocks. Only at the time of the greatest shock was something seen in the sky. Nature, 88-117—that this succession of phenomena did occur. We relate the phenomena to the planet Mars, but also we ask—how, if most reasonably, all three of these shocks were concussions from explosions in the sky, if of course one of them was, meteors could ever so hound one small region upon a moving earth, or projectiles be fired with such specialization and preciseness? Nov. 17th, 1911, was seven days before the opposition of Mars. Though the opposition occurred upon the 24th of November, Mars was at minimum distance upon the 17th.
No matter how difficult of acceptance our own notions may be, they are opposed by this barbarism, or puerility, or pill that can't be digested:
Seven days from the opposition of Mars, in 1896, a great meteor
exploded over a region where there had been a succession of earthquakes—by coincidence;
Seven days from the next similar opposition of Mars, a great meteor exploded over a region where there was going to be a succession of earthquakes—by coincidence.
The Advantagerians of the moon—that is the cult of lunar cornmunicationists, who try to take advantage of such celestial events as oppositions and eclipses, thinking that astronomers, or night watchmen, or policemen of this earth might at such times look up at the sky
A great luminous object, or a meteor, that was seen at the time of the eclipse of June 28, 1908—"as if to make the date of the eclipse more memorable," says W. F. Denning (Observatory, 31-288).
Not long before the opposition of Mars, in 1909, the bright spot west of Picard was seen twice: March 26 and May 23 (Jour. B. A. A., 19-376).
Nov. 16, 1910—an eclipse of the moon, and a "meteor" that appeared, almost at the moment of totality (Eng. Mec., 92-430). It is reported, in Nature, 85-118, as seen by Madame de Robeck, at Naas, Ireland, "from an apparent radiant, just below the eclipsed moon." The thing may have come from the moon. Seemingly with the same origin, it was seen far away in France. In La Nature, Nov. 26, 1910, it is said that, at Besançon, France, during the eclipse, was seen a meteor like a superb rocket, "qui serait partie de la lune." There may have been something occurring upon the moon at the time. In the Jour. B. A. A., 21-100, it is said that Mrs. Albright had seen a luminous point upon the moon throughout the eclipse.
Our expression is that there is an association between reported objects, like extra-mundane visitors, and nearest approaches by the planet Venus to this earth. Perhaps unfortunately this is our expression, because it makes for more restriction than we intend. The objects, or the voyagers, have often been seen during the few hours of the visibility of Venus, when the planet is nearest. "Then such an object is Venus," say the astronomers. If anybody wonders why, if these seeming navigators can come close to this earth—as they
do approach, if they appear only in a local sky—they do not then come all the way to this earth, let him ask a sea captain why said captain never purposely descends to the bottom of the ocean, though traveling often not far away. However, I conceive of a great variety of extra-mundanians, and I am now collecting data for a future expression—that some kinds of beings from outer space can adapt to our conditions, which may be like the bottom of a sea, and have been seen, but have been supposed to be psychic phenomena.
Upon Oct. 31, 1908, the planet Venus was four months past inferior conjunction, and so had moved far from nearest approach, but there are vague stories of strange objects that had been seen in the skies of this earth—localized in New England—back to the time of nearest approach. In the New York Sun, Nov. 1, 1908, is published a dispatch, from Boston, dated Oct. 31. It is said that, near Bridgewater, at four o'clock in the morning of October 31, two men had seen a spectacle in the sky. The men were not astronomers. They were undertakers. There may be a disposition to think that these observers were not in their own field of greatest expertness, and to think that we are not very exacting as to the sources of our data. But we have to depend upon undertakers, for instance: early in our investigations, we learned that the prestige of astronomers has been built upon their high moral character, all of them most excellently going to bed soon after sunset, so as to get up early and write all day upon astronomical subjects. But the exemplary in one respect may not lead to much advancement in some other respect. Our undertakers saw, in the sky, something like a searchlight. It played down upon this earth, as if directed by an investigator, and then it flashed upward. "All of the balloons in which ascensions are made, in this State, were accounted for today, and a search through southeastern Massachusetts failed to reveal any further trace of the supposed airship." It is said that "mysterious bright lights," believed to have come from a balloon, had been reported from many places in New England. The week before, persons at Ware had said that they had seen an illuminated balloon passing over the town, early in the morning. During the summer such reports had come from Bristol, Conn., and later from Pittsfield, Mass., and from White River Junction, Vt. "In all these cases,
however, no balloon could be found, all the known airships being accounted for." In the New York Sun, Dec. 13, 1909, it is said that, during the autumn of 1908, reports had come from different places in Connecticut, upon a mysterious light that moved rapidly in the sky.
Venus moved on, traveling around the sun, which was revolving around this earth, or traveling any way to suit anybody. In December, 1909, the planet was again approaching this earth. So close was Venus to this earth that, upon the 15th of December, 1909, crowds stood, at noon, in the streets of Rome, watching it, or her (New York Sun, December 16). At 3 o'clock, afternoon of December 24th crowds stood in the streets of New York, watching Venus (New York Tribune, December 25). One supposes that upon these occasions Venus may have been within several thousand miles of this earth. At any rate I have never heard of one fairly good reason for supposing otherwise. If again something appeared in local skies of this earth, or in the skies of New England, and sometimes during the few hours of the visibility of Venus, the object was or was not Venus, all according to the details of various descriptions, and the credibility of the details. The searchlight, for instance; more than one light; directions and motions. Venus, at the time, was for several hours after sunset, slowly descending in the southwest: primary maximum brilliance Jan. 8th, 1910; inferior conjunction February 12th.
There is an amusing befuddlement to clear away first. Upon the night of Sept. 8, 1909, a luminous object had been seen sailing over New England, and sounds from it, like sounds from a motor, had been heard. Then Mr. Wallace Tillinghast, of Worcester, Mass., announced that this light had been a lamp in his "secret aeroplane," and that upon this night he had traveled, in said "secret aeroplane," from Boston to New York, and back to Boston. At this time the longest recorded flight, in an aeroplane, was Farman's, of 111 miles, from Rheims, August, 1909; and, in the United States, according to records, it was not until May 29, 1910, that Curtiss flew from Albany to New York City, making one stop in the 150 miles, however. So this unrecorded flight made some stir in the newspapers. Mr. Tillinghast meant his story humorously of course. I mention it because,
if anybody should look the matter up, he will find the yarn involved in the newspaper accounts. If nothing else had been seen, Mr. Tillinghast might still tell his story, and explain why he never did anything with his astonishing "secret aeroplane"; but something else was seen, and upon one of the nights in which it appeared, Tillinghast was known to be in his home.
According to the New York Tribune, Dec. 21, 1909, Immigration Inspector Hoe, of Boston, had reported having seen, at one o'clock in the morning of December 20, "a bright light passing over the harbor" and had concluded that he had seen an airship of some kind.
New York Tribune, December 23—that a "mysterious airship" had appeared over the town of Worcester, Mass., "sweeping the heavens with a searchlight of tremendous power." It had come from the southeast, and traveled northwest, then hovering over the city, disappearing in the direction of Marlboro. Two hours later, it returned. "Thousands thronged the streets, watching the mysterious visitor." Again it hovered, then moving away, heading first to the south and then to the east.
The next night, something was seen, at 6 o'clock, at Boston. "The searchlights shot across the sky line." "As it flew away to the north, queries began to pour into the newspaper offices and the police stations, regarding the remarkable visitation." It is said that an hour and a half later, an object that was supposed to be an airship with a powerful searchlight, appeared in the sky, at Willimantic, Conn., "hovering" over the town about 15 minutes. In the New York Sun, December 24, are more details. It is said that, at Willimantic, had been seen a large searchlight, approaching from the east, and that then dark outlines of something behind the searchlight had been seen. Also, in the Sun, it is said that whatever it may have been that was seen at Boston, it was a dark object, with several red lights and a searchlight, approaching Boston from the west, hovering for 10 minutes, and then moving away westward. From Lynn, Mass., it was described as "a long black object," moving in the direction of Salem, and then returning, "at a high speed." It is said that the object had been seen at Marlboro, Mass., nine times since December 14.
New York Tribune, Jan. 1, 1910—dispatch from Huntington, West Virginia, Dec. 31, 1909—"Three huge lights of almost uniform dimensions appeared in the early morning sky, in this neighborhood, today. Joseph Green, a farmer, declared that they were meteors, which fell on his farm. An extensive search of his land by others who saw the lights was fruitless, and many persons believe that an airship had sped over the country."
In the Tribune, Jan. 13, 1910, it is said that, at 9 o'clock, morning of January 12, an airship had been seen at Chattanooga, Tenn. "Thousands saw the craft, and heard the 'chug' of its engine." Later the object was reported from Huntsville, Alabama. New York Tribune, January 15—dispatch from Chattanooga, January 14—"For the third successive day, a mysterious white aircraft passed over Chattanooga, about noon today. It came from the north, and was traveling southeast, disappearing over Missionary Ridge. On Wednesday, it came south, and on Thursday, it returned north."
In the middle of December, 1909, someone had won a prize for sailing in a dirigible from St. Cyr to the Eiffel Tower and back.
St. Cyr is several miles from Paris.
Huntsville, Ala., and Chattanooga, Tenn., are 75 miles apart.
An association between the planet Venus and "mysterious visitors" either illumines or haunts our data. In the New York Tribune, Jan. 29, 1910, it is said that a luminous object, thought to be Winnecke's comet, had been seen, January 28, near Venus; reported from the Manila Observatory.
I have another datum that perhaps belongs to this series of events. Every night, from the 14th to the 23rd of December, 1909, if we accept the account from Marlboro, a luminous object was seen traveling, or exploring, in the sky of New England. Certainly enough it was no "secret airship" of this earth, unless its navigator went to extremes with the notion that the best way to kept a secret is to announce it with red lights and a searchlight. However, our acceptance depends upon general data as to the development of terrestrial aeronautics. But upon the night of December 24th, the object was not seen in New England, and it may have been traveling or exploring somewhere else. Night of the 24th—Venus in the southwest in the early hours of the evening. In the English Mechanic, 104-71, a
correspondent, who signs himself "Rigel," writes that, upon December 24, at 8:30 o'clock in the evening, he saw a luminous object appear above the northeastern horizon and slowly move southward, until 8.50 o'clock, then turning around, retracing, and disappearing whence it came, at two minutes past nine. The correspondent is James Fergusen, Rossbrien, Limerick, Ireland. He writes frequently upon astronomical and meteorological subjects, and is still contributing to the somewhat enlightened columns of the English Mechanic.
Nov. 19, 1912—explosive sounds reported from Sunninghill, Berkshire. No earthquake was recorded at the Kew Observatory, and, in the opinion of W. F. Denning (Nature, 9-363, 417) the explosion was in the sky. It was a terrific explosion, according to the Westminster Gazette (November 19). There was either one great explosion that rumbled and echoed for five minutes, or there were repeated detonations, resembling cannonading—"like a tremendous discharge of big guns" according to reports from Abingdon, Lewes, and Epsom. Sunninghill is about ten miles from Reading, and Abingdon is near Reading, but the sound was heard in London, and down by the English Channel, and even in the island of Alderney. In the Gazette, November 28, Sir George Fordham (H. G. Fordham) writes that, in his opinion, it was an explosion in the sky. He says—"The phenomena of airshock never have, I believe, been very fully investigated." His admissions and his omissions remain the same as they have been since occurrences of the year 1889. He does not mention that, according to Philip T. Kenway, of Hambledon, near Godalming, about thirty miles southeast of Reading, the sounds were heard again the next day, from 1:45 to 2 P.M. Mr. Kenway thinks that there had been big-gun firing at Portsmouth (West. Gaz., November 21). In the London Standard, a correspondent, writing from Dorking, say that the phenomena of the 19th were like concussions from cannonading—"at regular intervals"—"at quick intervals, lasting some seconds each time, for five minutes, by the clock."
It develops that Reading was the center over which the detonations occurred. In the Westminster Gazette, November 30, it is said that the shocks had been felt in Reading, upon the 19th, 20th, and
London Standard, Nov. 23, 1912—that, according to Lieut. Col. Trewman, of Reading, the sounds had been heard at Reading, at 9 A.M., upon the 19th; 1:45 P.M., the 10th; 3:30 P.M., the 21st.
