CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Of the Ancient Kind

        What is recorded below are known as close encounters, mainly of the first kind.  For edification here are the categories of encounters as presented, with humor, at the 19th Rocky Mountain UFO Conference:

1.    When you see a flying saucer (disc, cigar, spheroid, what have you), that's an encounter (close or far) of the first kind.

2.    When you encounter any type of 3-D physical tracings, or remnants, of something apparently not of this world, or this dimension - such as when someone has etched a sketch in your crops or when your cow is mutilated or when you find a piece of chrome off a flying saucer - that's an encounter of the second kind.

3.    And then when you encounter not only a saucer, or a ship, but you also see the entities who are driving said ship, and they maybe wave at you, and you wave back, that's an encounter of the third kind.

4.    And if you get invited aboard, or taken aboard, and have experiences therein, that's an encounter of the fourth kind. 

5.    And finally, let's say you haven't seen a space craft, or its tracings, nor have you seen the occupants of such a craft, nor have you been aboard, but you would like to, and you're not afraid, and you have learned something about what it takes to initiate contact, so you try it - try to initiate contact - and out of the blue, so to speak, contact does indeed happen, (of any of the previously mentioned first to fourth kinds) this is an encounter of the fifth kind.

Some words and phrases are highlighted in blue.  This is done to note entries that bear a close resemblance to verses in the Bible.  It should be noted that as technology increases and manmade objects begin to appear in the sky those similarities begin to decrease.

45,000 BC  Rock carvings of round UFO-like objects  have been found in China's Hunan province.   The depictions date back to age of the Neanderthals.
 

8000 BC  The Aborigine believed in "dawn beings" from the stars. Australian aboriginal cave drawings depict celestial beings, with antenna and x-ray style drawings. They were very advanced in "aerodynamics".  The boomerang is identical to a modern day aircraft wing.   Aborigine means "from the beginning".

4000 BC   The Sumerians from today’s Iraq had contact with extraterrestrial civilizations according to their text. The extraterrestrials also interbred with humans and traveled with them to the stars. The kings were taken to the stars by the extraterrestrials. Sumerian text coincides with "the book of genesis". Their astronomy was highly developed. They had numbers with 15 digits! The Sumerians say extraterrestrials are from Mars, the star system Pleiades, and the star Sirius. Sumerian text shows drawings of solar system.  

3000 BC   From the book " Memories of the Sovereigns and the Kings " published in the 3rd century AD, in China, in the third millennium B.C., before the birth of Huang Ti or of Chi You , "sons from the sky", would descend to Earth on a star which was the shape of a saucer.  

2345 BC   The, Hsui-nan-tzu, a Chinese classic there is a description of ten suns appearing in the sky.  

2000 BC   Peru’s pre-Incan civilization records the gods were from the star system Pleiades.  Inca ruins have been found at 13,000 feet, with one stone weighing 20,000 tons.  Legend tells of spaceships that came from the stars. Inca ornaments of "platinum" were found. Text reveals the Inca’s knew the earth was round.  

1766 BC  China.  The Emperor Cheng Tang commissions Ki-Kung-shi to construct a flying chariot.  After construction the aircraft was  tested, reaching the province of Honan. The vessel was destroyed by imperial edict, as he Emperor feared the mechanism might fall into the wrong hands.  

1500 BC   Egypt, The Palace of Pharaoh Thutmosis III.  Circles of fire are said to have hovered over the palace while fishes, winged creatures, and other objects rained down from the sky.

593 BC  Ezekiel witnesses event which some writers have claimed sounds suspiciously like a UFO encounter. Josef Blumrich, former chief of the systems layout branch of NASA, set out to disprove such suggestions, however, from a careful analysis of the data available, he concluded that the vehicle described in the Bible actually was a UFO. His schematic is shown here.

400 BC  India, from the Mahabbarata.  Blazing discs burned and destroyed an entire city and its inhabitants, before returning to the hand of Vishnu.

332 BC  Phoenicia, Tyre, a city-state.  During the siege of the trade capital of Phoenicia by the Greeks a fleet of flying shields is described as plunged from the sky and crashed upon the city walls.

329 BC   Alexander the Great records two great silver shields, spitting fire around the rims in the sky that dived repeatedly at his army as they were attempting a river crossing.  The action so panicked his elephants, horses, and men they had to abandon the river crossing until the following day. 

218 BC  Rome.  Glowing lamps were seen in the sky at Praeneste, a shield was observed at Arpi and in the Amiterno district, of men in white garments appear.

213 BC  Hadria.  An ‘altar’ was seen in the sky, accompanied by a man in white clothing.

170 BC  Conrad Wolfhart, Lycothenes, a medieval writer reports, “A remarkable spectacle of a fleet of ships was seen in the air at Lanupium"

99 BC  Rome.  In Tarquinia, there fell things like a flaming torch in different places from the sky. Towards sunset, a round object like a globe, or round or circular shield took its path in the sky, from west to east.

90 BC  Rome, in the territory of Spoletium, in Umbria) a globe of fire, of golden color appeared burning in the north with a terrific noise in the sky, then fell, gyrating, to the earth. It then seemed to increase in size, rose from the earth, and ascended into the sky, where it obscured the disc of the sun, with its brilliance. It revolved towards the eastern quadrant of the sky.

85 BC       Pliny, from Natural History: Book II.  "In the consulship of Lucius Valerius and Caius Marius, a burning shield scattering sparks ran across the sky."

73 BC                           Asia Minor, Pontus.  While Roman legions were engaged in battle near the Black Sea against King Mithridates a huge flaming object fell between the two armies. It was said to have a shape like a wine jar and was the color of molten lead.  

42 BC  Rome, from Prodigia of Julius Obsequens, “Something like a sort of weapon, or missile, rose with a great noise from the earth and soared into the sky”

12 BC   Italy, Rome.  A comet-like object hovered days over Rome for several then melted into flashes resembling torches

9 BC  Japan, Kyushu.  Nine moons were seen in the night sky over the community.

60 AD   Scotland.  A ‘ship’ was seen speeding across the night sky at.

70   Josephus, from "Jewish War" Book CXI, "On the 21st of May a demonic phantom of incredible size...for before sunset there appeared in the air over the whole country chariots and armed troops coursing through the clouds and surrounding the cities."

80  Scotland.  Conrad Wolfhart, Lycothenes, a medieval writer reports, “When the Roman emporer, Agricola was in Scotland, wondrous flames were seen in the skies over Caledon Wood, all one winter night. Everywhere the air burned, and on many nights, when the weather was serene, a ship was seen in the air moving fast.”

98   Rome.  Conrad Wolfhart, Lycothenes, a medieval writer reports, “At sunset, a burning shield passed over the sky at . It came sparkling from the west and passed over to the east.”

312   Constantine and his army all beheld in the heavens a luminous cross.. He claimed to have been shown a cross on the Sun as a sign from Christ that he would triumph over Maxentius.

393   Strange lights were seen in the sky in the days of the Emperor Theodosius. On a sudden, a bright globe appeared at midnight and shone brilliantly near the daystar, (Venus). This globe shone little less brilliantly than the planet, and little by little, a great number of other glowing orbs drew near the first globe. The spectacle was like a swarm of bees flying around the beekeeper, and the light of these orbs was as if they were dashing violently against each other. They blended together into one awful flame, and bodied forth to the eye as a horrible two-edged sword. The strange globe, which was first seen now appeared like the pommel to a handle, and all the little orbs, fused with the first, shone as brilliantly as the first globe.

398  Byzantine Empire.  “A thing like a burning globe, presenting a sword, shown brilliantly in the sky over the city. It seemed almost to touch the earth from the zenith.  Such a thing was never recorded to have been seen before by man.”

664  England, Barking near the Thames.  At a monastery a great light appeared in the sky at night and shone over nuns who were singing in the burial-ground.  They reported that it lifted up, moved to the other side of the monastery, and then ascended into the night sky.  Priests said the light surpassed the brightness of day.

747  China.  Huge flame-breathing dragons were reported being seen in skies, accompanied by men in airships.  

763  Meath County.  While King Domnall Mac Murchada attended the fair at Teltown ships were seen in the air.

776  Charlemagne's castle at Sigiburg.  As the Saxons were laying siege to the castle, flying shields that were reddish in color appeared in the sky and rained down fire on the attacking army.

800  Peru.  A theoretical date for the creation of the anomalous mass etchings known as the Nazca lines that resemble aerial landing strips in the Peruvian Andes

810   St. Gregory of Tours.  "Alcuin, the secretary and biographer of Charlemagne, and author of the Vita karoli, states in his work that in 810 when he was on his way from Aachen, he saw a large sphere descend like lightning from the sky. It traveled from east to west and was so bright it made the monarch's horse rear up so that Charlemagne fell and injured himself severely."

840  France, Lyons.  As he was coming out of the Cathedral Archbishop Abobard, saw a mob stoning three men and a woman alleged to have been seen alighting from a aerial ship.

919  Hungary.  An object like a flaming torch was seen in the sky, together with spheres which flew over giving out a brighter light than the stars.  

927  France.   "In the town of Verdun, like the whole eastern part of France, saw  fiery armies appearing in the sky. Flodoard’s chronicle reports that they flew over eastern Reims on a Sunday morning in March. Similar phenomena happened several times under King Pepin the Short, under Charlemagne, under Louis I, the Debonair. These sovereign’s capitularia mention penalties against creatures that travel on aerial ships."

1015  Two objects were seen ‘giving birth’ to smaller luminous spheres over Japan.

1034  Europe.  A rare typeset book from 1493, contains what may be the earliest pictorial representation of a UFO. The book Liber Chronicarum, describes a strange fiery sphere, seen in 1034, soaring through the sky in a straight course from south to east and then veering toward the setting sun. The illustration accompanying the account shows a cigar-shaped form haloed by flames, sailing through a blue sky over a green, rolling countryside. This may be the first work that actually contains actual illustrations of UFO's.

1133  Japan.  A large silvery disk is reported to have come close to the ground.

1180  Japan.  A term equivalent to our "flying saucer" was actually used by the Japanese approximately 700 years before it came into use in the West.  Ancient documents describe an unusual shining object seen in the night as a flying "earthenware vessel."  The object, which had been heading northeast from a mountain in Kii province, changed its direction and vanished below the horizon, leaving a luminous trail.

1211 Ireland, Cloera.  A ship-like craft traveling through the air is reported to have fouled the tower of a church. An occupant clambered from the craft, down the rope and cut free the anchor.  

1235   Japan.  What might be called the first official investigation of a UFO sighting occurred in Japan in 1235. During the night while General Yoritsume and his army were encamped, mysterious lights were observed in the heavens. The lights were seen in the southwest for many hours, winging, circling and moving in loops. The general ordered a "full-scale scientific investigation" of these strange events. The report finally submitted to him has the "soothing" ring of many contemporary explanations offered for UFO phenomena. In essence it read: "the whole thing is completely natural, General. It is... only the wind making the stars sway."  

1239   England: Matthew of Paris:  “On July 24 at dusk, but not when the stars came out, while the air was clear, serene and shining, a great star appeared. It was like a torch, rising from the south, and flying on both sides of it, there was emitted in the height of the sky a very great light. It turned quickly towards the north, not quickly, nor, indeed, with speed, but exactly as it wished to ascend to a place high in the air.”

1254  England, St Albans.  Some monks at saw in the night sky 'a kind of large ship elegantly shaped and well-equipped and of marvelous color'.  

1271  Japan.  The famous priest Nichiren was about to be headed at Tatsunokuchi, Kamakura, when there appeared in the sky an object like a full moon, shiny and bright.  The officials panicked and the execution was not carried out.

1290   England, Yorkshire.  The Abbot and monks of Byland Abbey, (the largest Cistercian abbey in England), were about to commence a meal when one of the brethren ran in to announce a great portent outside. They all ran outside and saw a large silver disc fly slowly overhead and caused the utmost terror.
 

1322  England, Uxbridge there was seen in the sky a pile (pillar) of fire the size of a small boat, pallid and livid in colour. It rose from the south, crossed the sky with a slow and grave motion, and went north. Out of the front of the pile, a fervent red flame burst forth with great beams of light.  Its speed increased, and it flew through the air.

1361  Japan a flying object described as being "shaped like a drum, about twenty feet in diameter" emerged from the inland sea off the western Japanese coast.

1387  England, the county of Leicester and in Northamptonshire.  A fire in the sky, like a burning and revolving wheel, or round barrel of flame, emitting fire from above, and others in the shape of a long fiery beam, were seen through a great deal of the winter. 

1458  Japan.  An object as bright as the full moon, followed by curious signs, was seem in the sky.  

1461  France, Arras.  A fiery thing like an iron rod of good length and as large as one half of the moon was seen in the sky for less than a quarter of an hour. This object was also described as being "shaped like a ship from which fire was seen flowing."

1468   Japan.  A dark object, which made a "sound like a wheel," flew from Mt. Kasuag toward the west at midnight.
 

1479   There is a woodcut of UFO that was sighted over Arabia in an illustrated volume published in 1557.  The Prodigiorum Ac Ostentorum Chronicon, text by Conrad Lycosthenes, is one of the best-illustrated books of the Renaissance depicting medieval superstition.  On page 494 is a woodcut showing a spaceship seen over Arabia in 1479. 

1492  From "The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus."  Christopher Columbus and Pedro Gutierrez while on the deck of the Santa Maira, observed, "a light glimmering at a great distance." It vanished and reappeared several times during the night, moving up and down, "in sudden and passing gleams." It was sighted 4 hours before land was sighted, and taken by Columbus as a sign they would soon come to land.

1517  Rumania, Moldavia.  A large blue glowing disk appeared and remained in the sky for some time.

1520   Erfurt.  A round shape with a rotating light or beam, accompanied by ‘two fiery suns’ was described in the skies.

1528  The Siege of Utrecht in Holland.  “A cruel and strange sight was seen in the sky, which terrified the townspeople and made the enemy think he would get the city. It was the form of a Burgundian cross right over the city, high in the sky, yellow in color, and fearful to behold.”

1529  Prussia,  Erfurt. Two burning suns were seen.  Then a great 'burning beam' landed suddenly. It took off again into the sky, where it became circular in shape.

1554   France.  “There appeared, about the moon, a burning fire, emitting a great noise, what seemed to be the point of a lance, turning form side to side, from east to west, casting out flames on all sides.”

1561   Germany, Nuremberg.  The entire sky over, was filled with cylindrical objects and spinning discs, some say as many as 200, spouting numerous black, red and orange spheres.

1577  Switzerland, Basel.  Black spheres darting around the sky was seen by the inhabitants.

1606  Japan, Noi Castle.  A whirling ball of fire was seen hovering over the castle.

1619  A prefect of a Swiss Canton saw a long, bright object flying along a lake near Fluelen.

1643  England, from diarist, John Evelyn.  “I must not forget what amazed us exceedingly the night before, namely, a shining cloud in the air in a shape resembling a sword, the point reaching to the north. It was as bright as the moon, the rest of the sky being very serene. It began about 11 at night and vanished not till about one, being seen by all the south of England.”

1649  Germany, Hamburg.  A fireball which "moved in bounds up and down" was observed.

1663  Russia, Robozero.  A fiery ball of light stopped over a lake at, The noisy object gave out blue smoke and two beams of light projected ahead of it. Fisherman on the lake were burned by the intense heat. The object disappeared and returned again about one hour later. It was observed by many groups of witnesses.

1676  Edmond Hally, the astronomer who discovered Haley's comet, could recall two accounts involving unidentified crafts.  His first experience was in March of, when he saw a, as he said, "Vast body apparently bigger than the moon." He estimated it at 40 mi. above him. He also stated that it made a noise, "Like the rattling of a great cart over stones."  After estimating the distance it traveled in a matter of minutes, he came to the conclusion that it moved at a speed greater than 9,600 m.p.h.

1686  Germany, Leipzig.  A fiery ball of light was seen to travel east to west before hovering some seven minutes in the sky at an estimated altitude of 30 miles. It was about half the size of the moon and gradually vanished from view.

1694  Montgomeryshire, Wales.  John Evelyn, a diarist, reported,  “A fiery exhalation...a furlong broad” rose out of the sea burning straw, hay and barns. Grass tainted, killing cattle, and skin affected.

1700   United States.  In the US, there is an 18th century Indian legend about luminous humanoid beings who paralyzed people with a small tube. In variations of these tales, Indian women were even said to have married a couple of these "star people".

1716 Edmond Hally’s second experience was 39 years after his first in 1676.  Hally saw an object that hovered for more than two hours.

1718  East Indies, Lethy Island.  A large fiery mass fell and exploded on the ground.  Subsequently a jelly-like mass, silvery and scaly, was said to have been found.

1733 England, Dorset, Fleet.  Dec 8 - James Cracker of, a small town in, , saw a silvery disc fly overhead in broad daylight. Here is his eyewitness account: "Something in the sky which appeared in the north but vanished from my sight, as it was intercepted by trees, from my vision. I was standing in a valley. The weather was warm, the sun shone brightly. All of a sudden it re-appeared, darting in and out of my sight with an amazing coruscation. The colour of this phenomenon was like burnished, or new-washed silver. It shot with speed like a star falling in the night. But it had a body much larger and a train longer than any shooting star I have seen. Next day Mr. Edgecombe informed me that he and another gentleman had seen this strange phenomenon at the same time as I had. It was about 15 miles from where I saw it, and steering a course from east to north."

1742   England.  An account by a Fellow of the Royal Society: “I was crossing St James park when a light rose from behind the trees and houses, from the south and west, which at first I thought was a rocket of large size. But when it rose 20 degrees, it moved parallel to the horizon, but waved like this (the speaker drew an undulating line) and went on in the direction of north-by-east. It seemed very near. Its motion was very slow. I had it for about half a mile in view. A light flame was turned backwards by the resistance the air made to it. From one of burning charcoal. That end was a frame like bars of iron, and quite opaque in my sight. At one point on the longitudinal frame, or cylinder, it issued a train in the shape of a tail of light more bright at one point on the rod or cylinder; so that it was transparent for more than half of its length. The head of this strange object seemed about a half a degree in diameter and the tail near three degrees in length.”

1749  Japan.  For four days three round objects were seen in the skies.

1751  Croatia, Agram.   An iron meteorite crashes . The vapory cloud left by an aerial explosion was visible for an hour before it entirely dissipated. After the detonation took place, two masses of iron fell in the shape of chains welded together.

1758  England, from Cambridge to Ross-shire.  A dazzling light as bright as day seen over Britain Velocity was an estimated 30 mps; height over Cambridge 95 miles; over Inverness 30 miles. It seemed to descend obliquely towards the earth, and then 'rose again with renewed splendor'.

1762   Switzerland.  A huge spindle-shaped object was seen crossing the sun by two different observatories in. It was observed by one astronomer nearly every day for a month.

1777  France.  French astronomer Charles Messier saw a number of dark round objects in the sky.  

1783   England, Greenwich.  An object was observed that ‘gave birth’ to eight satellites, which disappeared slowly towards the Southeast.

1786   England.  A bright ball of fire and light lasting 40 minutes was seen in the sky over southern during a hurricane of wind.

1787   Edinburgh.  A bright fireball light like the sun was seen traveling horizontally through the sky at. It dropped a little, then rose again, bursting behind a cloud.

1790   France.  During the summer, Police Inspector Liabeuf witnessed and investigated a large red globe as it flew over farmland. The globe landed and a man came out and spoke in a language none understood. The globe then exploded and the man disappeared. The event was witnessed by many and is well documented.

1793   Northumberland.  A bright oval light was observed in the sky over for around five minutes. At first it appeared the size of Sirius.

1796   Germany, Dresden and Berlin.  A bright light irregular in form and the size of the moon was seen in the sky above.   A large detonation was heard and a dark bituminous substance fell to earth.

1799  England .  A "beautiful ball blazing with white light" was seen. It made no sound and red sparks flew from it. 

1799  England, Hereford.  A  "large red pillar of fire" was seen in the sky going south. It was preceded by "flashes of extremely vivid electrical sort". Other objects were seen leaving luminous trails.

1799  England, Huncoates and Lincolnshire.   A ball of fire passed in the sky.

1803   A shooting star got larger and larger until it fell to earth between Barsdorf and Freiburg in Silesia. A whizzing noise was heard as it passed close to the ground before it landed and then lay burning. Next day a jelly-like mass was found on the snow.

1808  France, Piedmont.  Formation of 'luminous discs' observed in the sky.

1812   The war between the Russians, French and Germans, over the town of Bucovina. ”Towards noon a large star with many rays appeared and in the night she ascended higher and flew in the direction of the Russians; afterwards she returned and went to the west, where the beams where extinguished. Thus did the star reveal herself for four months. It was during

1816   Edinburgh.  Many people saw a large, luminous crescent-shaped object flying over the city.

1819   United States, Amhurst, Mass.  A white silvery fireball light accompanied by a violent explosion was seen.  Afterwards, a gelatinous substance was said to have been found.

1820   France, Embrun.  A formation of flying objects crossed the French town.  Francois Arago wrote of this date in the ‘Annales de chimie et de physique’: "Numerous observers have seen, during an eclipse of the moon, strange objects moving in straight lines. They were equally spaced and remained in line when they made turns. Their movements made a military precision."

1826   English Channel.  Sailors in the Channel reported seeing a gray, torpedo-shaped object flying overhead.

1831   Thuringia.  It was reported that a brilliant luminous disc was seen in the night sky.

1833   United States.  A large, square, luminous object was seen for more than an hour over Niagara Falls.

1836   France, Cherbourg.  In this French coastal town what was a described as a 'gleaming aerial vessel' was seen in the sky overhead.

1842   Soviet Union, Orenburg.  Small metal objects, perfectly hexagonal, fell out of the sky after a "strange cloud" appeared.
 
1845   Italy.  Astronomers at a Naples observatory recorded the appearance of several luminous discs which left trails.

1846   United States.  A 'luminous flying disc' was reported over this eastern seaboard area.

1847   England, London.  A spherical craft was spotted rising vertically through the clouds.

1860   United States, Shreveport, Louisiana.  "Our attention was called to a strange light in the heavens.  On going out into the gallery we had a magnificent view of it.  It appeared to the naked eye, about 300 yards in length, extending from North to West appearing just above the tallest trees.  Its color was that of a red hot stove from the center beautiful rays resembling those of the sun drawing water would ascend to a considerable height, the whole presenting a very beautiful and sublime appearance.  We watched it for about an hour without perceiving it to change any.  
 

1868   Chile, Capiago an aerial construction was observed emitting light with an engine noise.
 

1868   England, Oxford.  Astronomers at Radcliffe Observatory saw a luminous object that moved quickly across the sky, stopped, changed course to the west, then to the south, where it hovered for four minutes, then headed toward the north.

1870   Atlantic Ocean.  An object was seen from the ship Lady of the Lake that appeared to be a light-gray colored disk that flew against the wind.

1870  African coast. Capt. F.W. Banner and crew reported  “A semi-circle divided into four parts, and a central shaft...extending far outward & curving backward emitted vivid shafts of light.”

1871   Meudon Observatory.  Astronomer Trouvelot noted a number of objects that resembled those witnessed at Nuremberg and Basel. Among the objects he saw was a circle that first seemed about to fall, then descended "like a disk falling through water." 

1872        England, Banbury.  At King's Sutton an object resembling a haystack flew on an irregular course.  Sometimes high, sometimes very low, it was accompanied by fire and dense smoke. It produced the same effect as a tornado, felling trees and walls. It suddenly vanished.  

1873   United States, Bonham, Texas. A huge cigar-shaped object swooped low over the town of on two occasions and in broad daylight. It then disappeared quickly to the east.

1874   Mexico, Oaxaca.  Residents saw a huge, gently swaying, trumpet-shaped object estimated to be 425ft long hovering in the sky for six minutes.

1874   Prague.  A Professor Schafarick saw "an object of such strange nature that I do not know what to say about it. It was of a blinding white and crossed slowly the face of the moon. It remained visible afterwards."

1877   France, Vence.  Reports of a "cloud cigar" "fiery spheres, extremely luminous, came out of a cloud of peculiar shape and went slowly toward the north for one hour.

1878  United States, Texas.  John Martin, a farmer, spotted a fast moving dark object high in the southern sky. When it passed overhead, he saw that it was the size of a 'large saucer'.  It continued on its way and was soon lost to view. In recounting the event, a local newspaper remarked, 'Mr. Martin is a gentleman of undoubted veracity and this strange occurrence, if it was not a balloon, deserves the attention of our scientists'.

1879  Persian Gulf.  The S.S. Vulture  crew reported, two luminous rotating wheels, about 130 ft. across, seen above the water before diving

1880   Persian Gulf.  The British steamer Patna was traversing the waters of the when around mid- night the captain and several other members of crew all saw two enormous glowing wheels each estimated to be 500 to 600 meters in diameter appeared underwater on each side of the ship.  The wheels were spinning, one on each side with the spokes touching the ship. The sighting lasted 20 minutes and was witnessed by Captain Avern, third officer Manning, and Lee Fort Brace.  July, Russia, St. Petersburg.  A large illuminated globe, accompanied by two smaller lights is seen to follow a ravine outside the city.    August, France.  A member of the French Academy observed a glittering, white gold cigar-shaped object in the sky that had pointed ends.

1881  United States, Georgia.  Mr. Z. T. Baisden, of Americus, gives us the following story of a whirlwind that visited his place, scaring all his hands and some visitors very badly.  A whirlwind occurred in a twelve acre cornfield that was about four feet in diameter and sometimes a hundred feet high.  The body of it was perfectly black, with fire in the center and emitted a strong sulphurous vapor that could be smelt three hundred yards form it.  The whirlwind would divide into three and move rapidly over the field, twisting up the corn stalks by the roots and carrying them up.  These three minor whirlwinds would then come together with a loud crash, cracking and burning and shoot high up into the heavens.  Three young ladies who were visiting Mrs. Baisden went in about 150 feet to observe it, but received such a shower of burning sand upon their face and necks that they ran affrighted to the house.  Mr. Baisden says that he cannot account for this strange phenomenon, and it certainly frightened all who saw it.  The strange part was that it contained fire, yet did not appear to burn the corn that it did not tear up, and its sulphurous vapor sickened and burnt all who got close enough to get a full breath of it.

1882   England.  A huge UFO, the first such phenomenon which was characteristically saucer-shaped in Europe, was plainly observed by numerous people in England and other parts of Europe during the night. It was seen to travel in the sky at an approximate altitude of 130 miles in an east-west direction. A number of eminent scientists witnessed the object, among them being Dr E Walter Maunder, Greenwich astronomer; English spectroscopist, J Rand Capron; Dutch astronomers Audemans and Zeeman. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich published a report of the conclusions reached by scientists, following the appearance of what had been termed, "The Great Saucer". The report had this to say: "It appeared to be well defined in body and the inference drawn was that it was a meteor, not in the old vague sense of some object high in the Earth's atmosphere, but in the sense of a solid cosmological substance, disc-like in appearance, the orbit of which brought it within the terrestrial atmosphere. But nothing could be more unlike the rush of a great meteor or fireball, with intense radiance and fiery train. The advance of this object, though swift, appeared to be orderly and controlled. There was no sign of the compression of the atmosphere before it, no hint that the matter composing its front part, was in anyway more strongly heated than the rest of its substance, if substance, indeed it possessed."

1883   Summer, Germany, Segeberg.  A teacher and children at a school all saw two fiery balls in a clear sky one day. The size of two full moons, the objects traveled slowly together from north to south.  August, Mexico. Over 400 cigar-shaped and disc-shaped objects were reported moving across the sun by a Mexican astronomer, Jose A. Y. Bonilla, at the Zacatecas Observatory.  His photographs represent probably the earliest UFO pictures.  Similar sightings occurred the following day.

1885   Constantinople.  From ‘L’Astronomie’: M. Mavrogordato, calls our attention to the following strange observations which have been communicated to him.  "On November 1, at 9:30pm, there was seen, west of Adrianople, an elongated object giving off a strong luminosity. It seemed to float in the air and its apparent disk was four or five times larger than the full moon. It traveled slowly and cast light on the whole camp behind the station with a brightness about ten times greater than a large electric bulb.  In the morning, at dawn, a very luminous flame, first bluish, then greenish, and moving at a height of five to six meters, made a series of turns around the ferryboat pier at Scutari. Its blinding luminosity lighted the street and flooded the inside of the houses with light."

1886   Turkey, Adrianapole.  An oval-shaped object that spread a huge light was observed west of the Turkish town.  It moved slowly and lit up the railway station with a brilliant glow.

1887   Cape Race.  From L’Astronomie, "On November 12, 1887, at midnight, near, a huge ball of fire appeared, slowly emerging from the ocean to an altitude of sixteen to seventeen meters. This sphere started moving against the wind and stopped close to the ship from which it was observed. Then it rushed away in the sky and disappeared in the southeast. The whole observation had lasted five minutes."

1888   Italy, Ragusa.  From the ‘Memoirs’ of the Minor Brothers, “Luminous bodies were seen flying through the sky in lines for one hour.”

1892   Poland.  A phantom airship scare began appearing.  As in later 'flaps' of this sort, the craft often appeared at night and were usually equipped with powerful searchlights.

1893  North China Sea.  The ship, H.M.S. Carolina was sailing in the North China Sea, when a report from an officer of unusual light activity in the sky came to the attention of Captain J.N. Norcross. The officer told Captain Norcross that the lights appeared sometimes in a huge mass, others spread out in unusual patterns. He said that they resembled Chinese lanterns set between the masts of a ship. The next night these strange lights reappeared but with a reddish glow and emanating small amounts of smoke.

1893   United States.  A huge ‘wheel’ emanating noise appeared. It remained motionless for fifteen minutes before departing.

1895   England, Oxford.  A disk was seen rising above some trees and disappearing into the east

1896   United States, California.  The phantom airship wave in the US initially struck in California at the end of this year and into the next. Soon sightings spread east as literally thousands of people claimed to have seen the mystery craft and, on occasion met with the strange gibbering occupants.

1897   Canada, British Columbia.  Two Canadian fishermen in saw a pear-shaped craft flying south –wards

1897   United States, Aurora, Texas.  From the April 19, Dallas Morning News'About 6 o'clock this morning the early risers of were astonished at the sudden appearance of the airship, which has been sailing around the country. It was traveling due north and much nearer the earth than before.  Evidently some of the machinery was out of order, for it was making a speed of only ten or twelve miles an hour, and gradually settling toward the earth. It sailed over the public square and when it reached the north part of town it collided with the tower of Judge Proctor's windmill and went into pieces with a terrific explosion, scattering debris over several acres of ground, wrecking the windmill and water tank and destroying the judge's flower garden. The pilot of the ship is supposed to have been the only one aboard and, while his remains were badly disfigured, enough of the original has been picked up to show that he was not an inhabitant of this world.  Mr. T.J. Weems, the U.S. Army Signal Service officer at this place and an authority on astronomy gives it as his opinion that the pilot was a native of the planet Mars. Papers found on his person, evidently the records of his travels -- are written in some unknown hieroglyphics and cannot be deciphered. This ship was too badly wrecked to form any conclusion as to its construction or motive power. It was built of an unknown metal, resembling somewhat a mixture of aluminum and silver, and it must have weighed several tons. The town is today full of people who are viewing the wreckage and gathering specimens of strange metal from the debris. The pilot's funeral will take place tomorrow.'  From UPI, 1973, “A grave in a small north Aurora, Texas cemetery contains the body of an 1897 astronaut who "was not an inhabitant of this world," according to the International UFO Bureau. The group, which investigates unidentified flying objects, has already initiated legal proceedings to exhume the body.  "After checking the grave with metal detectors and gathering facts for three months, we are certain as we can be at this point [that] he was the pilot of a UFO which reportedly exploded atop a well on Judge J.S. Proctor's place, April 19, 1897," Hewes said. He was not an inhabitant of this world."  A few days later, another UPI account datelined Aurora quoted a ninety-one-year-old who had been a girl of fifteen in Aurora at the time of the reported incident. She said she "had all but forgotten the incident until it appeared in the newspapers recently." She said her parents had gone to the sight of the crash, but had refused to take her along. She recalled that the remains of the pilot, "a small man," had been buried in the Aurora cemetery.  Not to be outdone, the Associated Press, in a story datelined Denton, Texas, reported "a North Texas State University professor had found some metal fragments near the Oates gas station (former Proctor farm). One fragment was said to be 'most intriguing' because it consisted of primarily of iron which did not seem to exhibit magnetic properties." The professor also said he was puzzled because the fragment was "shiny and malleable instead of dull and brittle like iron." The Aurora Cemetery Association was successful in blocking the attempts to dig up the grounds in search of the "Martian pilot."

1897   United States, LeRoy, Kansas.  From a sworn statement dated 21 April, a prosperous and prominent farmer named Alexander Hamilton (Le Roy, Kansas, U.S.A.) told of an attack upon his cattle at about 10:30 PM the previous Monday. He, his son, and his tenant grabbed axes and ran some 700 feet from the house to the cow lot where a great cigar-shaped ship about 300 feet long floated some 30 feet above his cattle. It had a carriage underneath which was brightly lighted within (dirigible and gondola?) and which had numerous windows.  Inside were six strange looking beings jabbering in a foreign language.  These beings suddenly became aware of Hamilton and the others. They immediately turned a searchlight on the farmer, and also turned on some power, which sped up a turbine wheel (about 30 ft diameter) located under the craft. The ship rose, taking with it a two-year old heifer, which was roped about the neck by a cable of one-half inch thick, red material. The next day a neighbor, Link Thomas, found the animal's hide, legs and head in his field. He was mystified at how the remains got to where they were because of the lack of tracks in the soft soil. Alexander Hamilton's sworn statement was accompanied by an affidavit as to his veracity. The affidavit was signed by ten of the local leading citizens.

1897   United States, Kansas City, Missouri.  10,000 residents saw a large black ship hover over head, flash green-blue and white lights, then moved straight up into space rapidly. Many other UFO sightings were reported, describing cigar-shaped, metallic craft with either wings, propellers, fins, or search lights. Bright lights were seen during the night.

1899   South Africa.  After alerting its telegraph offices to be on the lookout for invading British aircraft, the Transvaal government was inundated with sighting reports. Phantom airships, often equipped with powerful searchlights, mysteriously appeared in the skies around. Of course, neither aircraft nor airplanes were known to exist in Africa at this time.
 

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