June, 1801—a mirage of an unknown city. It was seen, for more than an
hour, at Youghal, Co. Cork, Ireland—a representation of mansions,
surrounded by shrubbery and white palings—forests behind. In October,
1796, a mirage of a walled town had been seen distinctly for half an
hour at Youghal. Upon March 9, 1797, had been seen a mirage of a walled
town.
Feb. 7, 1802—an unknown body that was seen, by Fritsch, of Magdeburg, to
cross the sun (_Observatory_, 3-136).
Oct. 10, 1802—an unknown dark body was seen, by Fritsch, rapidly
crossing the sun (_Comptes Rendus_, 83-587).
Between 10 and 11 o’clock, morning of Oct. 8, 1803, a stone fell from
the sky, at the town of Apt, France. About eight hours later, “some
persons believed that they felt an earthquake” (_Rept. B. A._, 1854-53).
Upon August 11, 1805, an explosive sound was heard at East Haddam,
Connecticut. There are records of six prior sounds, as if of explosions,
that were heard at East Haddam, beginning with the year 1791, but,
unrecorded, the sounds had attracted attention for a century, and had
been called the “Moodus” sounds, by the Indians. For the best account of
the “Moodus” sounds, see the _Amer. Jour. Sci._, 39-339. Here a writer
tries to show the phenomena were subterranean, but says that there was
no satisfactory explanation.
Upon the 2nd of April, 1808, over the town of Pignerol, Piedmont, Italy,
a loud sound was heard: in many places in Piedmont an earthquake was
felt. In the _Rept. B. A._, 1854-68, it is said that aërial phenomena
did occur; that, before the explosion, luminous objects had been seen in
the sky over Pignerol, and that in several of the communes in the Alps
aërial sounds, as if of innumerable stones colliding, had been heard,
and that quakes had been felt. From April 2 to April 8, forty shocks
were recorded at Pignerol; sounds like cannonading were heard at Barga.
Upon the 18th of April, two detonations were heard at La Tour, and a
luminous object was seen in the sky. The supposition, or almost absolute
belief of most persons is that from the 2nd to the 18th of April, this
earth had moved far in its orbit, and was rotating so that, if one
should explain that probably meteors had exploded here, it could not
very well be thought that more meteors were continuing to pick out this
one point upon a doubly moving planet. But something was specially
related to this one local sky. Upon the 19th of April, a stone fell from
the sky, at Borgo San Donnino, about 40 miles east of Piedmont (_Rept.
B. A._, 1860). Sounds like cannonading were heard almost every day in
this small region. Upon the 13th of May, a red cloud such as marks the
place of a meteoric explosion was seen in the sky. Throughout the rest
of the year, phenomena that are now listed as “earthquakes” occurred in
Piedmont. The last occurrence of which I have record was upon Jan. 22,
1810.
Feb. 9, 1812—two explosive sounds at East Haddam (_Amer. Jour. Sci._,
39-339).
July 5, 1812—one explosive sound at East Haddam (_Amer. Jour. Sci._,
39-339).
Oct. 28, 1812—“phantom soldiers” at Havarah Park, near Ripley, England
(_Edinburgh Annual Register_, 1812-II-124). When such appearances are
explained by meteorologists, they are said to be displays of the aurora
borealis. Psychic research explains variously. The physicists say that
they are mirages of troops marching somewhere at a distance.
Night of July 31, 1813—flashes of light in the sky of Tottenham, near
London (_Year Book of Facts_, 1853-272). The sky was clear. The flashes
were attributed to a storm at Hastings, 65 miles away. We note not only
that the planet Mars was in opposition at this time (July 30), but in
one of the nearest of its oppositions in the 19th century.
Dec. 28, 1813—an explosive sound at East Haddam.
Feb. 2, 1816—a quake at Lisbon. There was something in the sky.
Extraordinary sounds were heard, but were attributed to “flocks of
birds.” But six hours later something was seen in the sky: it is said to
have been a meteor (_Rept. B. A._, 1854-106).
Since the year 1788, many earthquakes, or concussions that were listed
as earthquakes, had occurred at the town of Comrie, Perthshire,
Scotland. Seventeen instances were recorded in the year 1795. Almost all
records of the phenomena of Comrie start with the year 1788, but, in
Macara’s _Guide to Creiff_, it is said that the disturbances were
recorded as far back as the year 1597. They were slight shocks, and
until the occurrence upon August 13, 1816, conventional explanations,
excluding all thought of relations with anything in the sky, seemed
adequate enough. But, in an account in the London _Times_, Aug. 21,
1816, it is said that, at the time of the quake of Aug. 13, a luminous
object, or a “small meteor” had been seen at Dunkeld, near Comrie; and,
according to David Milne (_Edin. New Phil. Jour._, 31-110) a resident of
Comrie had reported “a large luminous body, bent like a crescent, which
stretched itself over the heavens.”
There was another quake in Scotland (Inverness) June 30, 1817. It is
said that hot water fell from the sky (_Rept. B. A._, 1854-112).
Jan. 6, 1818—an unknown body that crossed the sun, according to Loft, of
Ipswich; observed about three hours and a half (_Quar. Jour. Roy.
Inst._, 5-117).
Five unknown bodies that were seen, upon June 26, 1819, crossing the
sun, according to Gruithuisen (_An. Sci. Disc._, 1860-411). Also, upon
this day, Pastorff saw something that he thought was a comet, which was
then somewhere near the sun, but which, according to Olbers, could not
have been the comet (Webb, _Celestial Objects_, p. 40).
Upon Aug. 28, 1819, there was a violent quake at Irkutsk, Siberia. There
had been two shocks upon Aug. 22, 1813 _(Rept. B. A._, 1854-101). Upon
April 6, 1805, or March 25, according to the Russian calendar, two
stones had fallen from the sky at Irkutsk (_Rept. B. A._, 1860-12). One
of these stones is now in the South Kensington Museum, London. Another
violent shock at Irkutsk, April 7, 1820 (_Rept. B. A._, 1854-128).
Unknown bodies in the sky, in the year 1820, Feb. 12 and April 27
(_Comptes Rendus_, 83-314).
Things that marched in the sky—see Arago’s _Œuvres_, 11-576, or _Annales
de Chimie_, 30-417—objects that were seen by many persons, in the
streets of Embrun, during the eclipse of Sept. 7, 1820, moving in
straight lines, turning and retracing in the same straight lines, all of
them separated by uniform spaces.
Early in the year 1821—and a light shone out on the moon—a bright point
of light in the lunar crater Aristarchus, which was in the dark at the
time. It was seen, upon the 4th and the 7th of February, by Capt. Kater
(_An. Reg._, 1821-689); and upon the 5th by Dr. Olbers (_Mems. R. A.
S._, 1-159). It was a light like a star, and was seen again, May 4th and
6th, by the Rev. M. Ward and by Francis Bailey (_Mems. R. A. S._,
1-159). At Cape Town, nights of Nov. 28th and 29th, 1821, again a
star-like light was seen upon the moon (_Phil. Trans._, 112-237).
_Quar. Jour. Roy. Inst._, 20-417:
That, early in the morning of March 20, 1822, detonations were heard at
Melida, an island in the Adriatic. All day, at intervals, the sounds
were heard. They were like cannonading, and it was supposed that they
came from a vessel, or from Turkish artillery, practicing in some
frontier village. For thirty days the detonations continued, sometimes
thirty or forty, sometimes several hundred, a day.
Upon April 13, 1822, it seems, according to description, that clearly
enough was there an explosion in the sky of Comrie, and a concussion of
the ground—“two loud reports, one apparently over our heads, and the
other, which followed immediately, under our feet” (_Edin. New Phil.
Jour._, 31-119).
July 15, 1822—the fall of perhaps unknown seeds from perhaps an unknown
world—a great quantity of little round seeds that fell from the sky, at
Marienwerder, Germany. They were unknown to the inhabitants, who tried
to cook them, but found that boiling seemed to have no effect upon them.
Wherever they came from, they were brought down by a storm, and two days
later, more of them fell, in a storm, in Silesia. It is said that these
corpuscles were identified by some scientists as seeds of _Galium
spurium_, but that other scientists disagreed. Later more of them fell
at Posen, Mecklenburg. See _Bull. des Sci._ (_math._, _astro._, _etc._)
1-1-298.
Aug. 19, 1822—a tremendous detonation at Melida—others continuing
several days.
Oct. 23, 1822—two unknown dark bodies crossing the sun; observed by
Pastorff (_An. Sci. Disc._, 1860-411).
An unknown, shining thing—it was seen, by Webb, May 22, 1823, near the
planet Venus (_Nature_, 14-195).
More unknowns, in the year 1823—see _Comptes Rendus_, 49-811 and Webb’s
_Celestial Objects_, p. 43.
Feb., 1824—the sounds of Melida.
Upon Feb. 11, 1824, a slight shock was felt at Irkutsk, Siberia (_Rept.
B. A._, 1854-124). Upon Feb. 18, or, according to other accounts, upon
May 14, a stone that weighed five pounds, fell from the sky at Irkutsk
(_Rept. B. A._, 1860-70). Three severe shocks at Irkutsk, March 8, 1824
(_Rept. B. A._, 1854-124).
Sept., 1824—the sounds of Melida.
At five o’clock, morning of Oct. 20, 1824, a light was seen upon the
dark part of the moon, by Gruithuisen. It disappeared. Six minutes later
it appeared again, disappeared again, and then flashed intermittently,
until 5.30 A. M., when sunrise ended the observations (_Sci. Amer.
Sup._, 7-2712). And, upon Jan. 22, 1825, again shone out the star-like
light of Aristarchus, reported by the Rev. J. B. Emmett (_Annals of
Philosophy_, 28-338).
The last sounds of Melida of which I have record, were heard in March,
1825. If these detonations did come from the sky, there was something
that, for at least three years, was situated over, or was in some other
way specially related to, this one small part of this earth’s surface,
subversively to all supposed principles of astronomy and geodesy. It is
said that, to find out whether the sounds did come from the sky, or not,
the Prêteur of Melida went into underground caverns to listen. It is
said that there the sounds could not be heard.