Unknown spherical body - Tasmania - 6 January 1923

Hi readers,

In my last post, I presented information about an "Extraordinary Phenomenon" seen at Alpha. Queensland on 17 September 1900. This concerned a "travelling star" seen in the daytime. I noted that in this instance it might have been a wind borne object.

Today's post concerns a daytime, revolving "...spherical body" travelling "...against the prevailing wind."

 

The account

 

"An Unusual Phenomenon.

To the Editor of "The Mercury."

 

Sir - I am interested to know if any beside myself and  daughter witnessed an extraordinary appearance in the sky at about 12.30 on Saturday. The sky was intensely blue with an occasional formation of cloud scudding over from the north-west.

 

On a clear patch of sky, a spherical body, creamy white in colour was revolving on its own axis, and speeding in a northerly direction at an great pace against the prevailing wind. The object was above the clouds as occasionally it was observed to repeatedly appear further on. It was not luminous like a star, or a meteor and was seen for nearly half an hour until eventually obscured by rain clouds.

 

Yours etc.

E.W."

 

Source:  "The Mercury" [Hobart, Tas: 1860-1954] Thursday 11 January 1923 p9.

 

 

Notes

 

1. If the location of sighting was Hobart, then Hobart is at latitude 42 deg 50 mins south; longitude 147 deg 20 mins east.

 

2. Based on Hobart, the Sun was at elevation 70 deg azimuth north.

 

3. The planet Venus was at 41 deg elevation; azimuth WNW.

 

4. According to "The Mercury" 6 January 1923,  page 15, the forecast issued at 9pm on 5 January 1923, for the next 48 hours, forecast the winds blowing from the north-west to west.

 

5. There is an apparent contradiction between the use of the words "...speeding...at a great pace" and it being visible for "...nearly half an hour."

 

6. However, based on the available information given in the letter to the editor, I am at a loss to suggest a mundane explanation for this object.

 

Have readers any suggestions?

Update 2 January 2016

Several members on the Magonia Exchange Yahoogroups forum discussed the possibility that the object seen may have been the planet Venus. It was 43 degrees away from the sun at that time and very bright. Could the scudding clouds have given the illusion of a stationary (moving some 7.5 degrees towards the west in a half hour) Venus speeding along?



"Extraordinary phenomenon" - Alpha, Queensland - 17 September 1900

Hi readers,

There are numerous keywords which you can use to search the National Library of Australia's TROVE digitised newspaper collection. Another set I have used was "extraordinary phenomenon." One of the article which these words turned up was about "a travelling star."

"Extraordinary Phenomenon
To the Editor.

Sir - We witnessed this morning at about nine o'clock what to us seemed an extraordinary phenomenon. A travelling star rose from the south and travelled right across the sky to the north-west horizon in about ten minutes.

When first seen it was some distance up, and looked more like a white bird than a star. It appeared to oscillate for two or three seconds, and then sailed steadily across the sky till lost sight of in the distance. I should be pleased if you could inform me if this is an usual or unusual occurrence. Thanking you in anticipation.

E Donaldson.
Alpha, September 17th 1900."

Source: "The Western Champion & General Advertiser for the Central Western Districts." [Barcaldine, Qld: 1892-1922] Tuesday 2 October 1900 p12.

Notes

1. Alpha, Queensland is at latitude 23 deg 36 mins south and longitude 146 deg36 mins east.

2. The sun was at elevation 37 deg, azimuth 24 deg north of east.

3. Weather. At nearby Barcaldine at 9am on 17 September 1900, the maximum temperature was 87 deg F, the minimum was 55 deg F; and the wind was from the south-east.

4. I did a TROVE search for an E. Donaldson but found nothing.

5. What was the object? Note that the wind was probably from the south-east, and the object travelled south to north-west, indicative of the fact that it may have been a wind borne object of some kind. Have readers any suggestions?

Two unusual high speed, large, black objects - Adelaide, South Australia - 23 March 1920

Hi readers,

In February 1947, several South Australian newspapers carried articles relating to the observations of five egg shaped objects in the sky, as seen from Port Augusta, and Lock, both in South Australia. For my post on this intriguing event click here.

One of the articles, by an amateur astronomer, appeared in "The Advertiser" [Adelaide, SA: 1931-1954] on page 2 of the Tuesday 25 February 1947 edition, see the image below.

 

A second letter to the editor that day

 

What very few people will be aware of, is that a second letter to the editor appeared in that same issue on that same page. It referred to a much earlier intriguing observation. It would appear that the appearance of articles about the Port Augusta and Lock observations, caused H N Wicks of Balhannah, in the Adelaide Hills, to write in about his own sighting.

 

The account

 

"Objects in the sky.

To the Editor.

 

Sir - When the late Sir Ross Smith was covering the last phase of his epic flight from England to Australia, and was scheduled to arrive in Adelaide during the early afternoon, the late Harry Butler left Adelaide in his small monoplane , nicknamed the Red Devil to meet the big Vickers Vimy over the Adelaide Hills. Being a little ahead of his schedule, Harry Butler filled in his time with aerobatics and stunting. Most of which occurred over our nurseries situated just S.E. of Mount Barker.

 

While watching him very intently, two large black objects travelling at terrific speed in a parallel course, passed very high above him, travelling from north to south. These were quite large and were very high but nevertheless their speed was such as to make Harry Butler's machine appear as if it were stationary.

 

The day was cloudless and for a moment I thought my eyes were playing tricks, but subsequently my foreman, who was a half a mile away at the time, asked me what the two black things were that passed Butler's machine. During the evening of the same day my father-in-law who lived about a mile away, asked an identical question. Both these people gave the same  description and direction of flight which exactly coincided with my own observations.

 

The speed and density of the objects definitely precluded any possibility of their being a mirage.

H.N. Wicks.

Balhannah Nurseries Balhannah.

 

 

My research notes

 

1. When was this observation of two high speed, large, black objects?

 

A search of Internet sources determined that Sir Ross Smith and crew left England on 12 November 1919 and arrived in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia on 10 December 1919.

 

 

Image source



The "Barrier Miner" [Broken Hill: NSW 1888-1954] Tuesday 23 March 1920 page 4, describes the arrival of Sir Ross Smith in Adelaide on 23 March 1920 in his Vickers Vimy biplane. The article also mentions Captain Harry Butler, a famous stunt pilot, in a monoplane, flying alongside Smith at 1.23pm on that day. A third aircraft, piloted by Captain J R Moore was also present.
 

It would therefore appear, that the observation by H N Wicks, as described in the "Advertiser," Adelaide, dated 25 February 1947, was made around 1.23pm on 23 March 1920.

 

2. Who was H. N. Wicks?

Can we establish him as a real, historical figure in Adelaide in 1920?

 

A search through TROVE located an article on page 8 of the "Daily Herald" [Adelaide, SA: 1910-1922] for Friday 13 February 1914, which places H N Wicks at Balhannah, helping establish an orchard and nursery.

 

 

 



 



H N Wicks appears in the book "Who's Who: South Australian Centenary, 1936." He is also mentioned in the 21 March 1934 ( page 13) edition of the "The Advertiser" Adelaide, as at the Balhannah flower show, see the image below.

 

 

It is therefore, a reasonable assumption that H N Wicks may have been present on 23 March 1920 in Adelaide, at Balhannah, as he states in his 1947 letter to the editor.

 

3. The weather

 

H N Wicks' 1947 letter to the editor, described the day of his observation, as "cloudless." Can we confirm this?

 

I checked the weather section of the 23 March 1920 "The Advertiser," Adelaide for the state forecast. This read "Lower South Australia Fine with warmer temperatures and light, variable winds, chiefly south-east to north-east." There is no mention about the state of cloudiness. Fine, merely means, no rain.

 

Advertiser, Adelaide 23 March 1920.

 

4. Discussion

What might the two objects have been?

a. My first thoughts were that, could Wicks have possibly confused the aircraft he thought was Butler's, with Ross Smith's? If this were so, perhaps the two black objects were in fact Butler's and Moore's aircraft? However, Butler's aircraft was a monoplane, and Smith's was a much larger biplane. In addition, Smith's plane would not have been performing acrobatics and stunting, whereas Butler's smaller, monoplane was capable of acrobatics and stunting; in fact, Butler was renown for his acrobatic performances. It would seem, from the available facts, that H N Wicks was indeed watching Butler's aircraft when the black objects went by.

b. Could the two black objects have been birds? High speed black objects in the sky could indeed have been birds. However, if we accept that three independent witnesses all saw large objects at around the same time, from distances up to a mile apart, this suggestion would seem unlikely.

c. I note that there is no mention of the two black objects leaving a condensation trail. There is also no associated noise reported from the objects.

5. In summary

 

We have confirmed that H N Wicks was a real, historical figure, almost certainly living in Balhannah on 23 March 1920, the date he reports his observation occurred. The other details of the day, e.g.. the arrival of Sir Ross Smith, are historically correct.

 

Here then we have an observation, dated 23 March 1920,  of "...two large black objects travelling at terrific speed in a parallel course, passed very high above him, travelling from north to south. These were quite large and were very high but nevertheless their speed was such as to make Harry Butler's machine appear as if it were stationary." These were reportedly observed by three people who were a considerable distance apart, albeit belatedly reported in February 1947. There, however, appears to be a valid reason why H N Wicks only reported it to the newspaper, in February 1947. The observation predates Kenneth Arnold's sighting, by several months.

 

 On the reported facts, I have no suggestions as to a mundane stimulus for this observation.

 

Have any readers, ideas?


Update 29 Dec 2015


Sydney based researcher Bill Chalker forwarded me his thoughts:

http://australianhistoricaluforeports.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/a-probable-explanation-for-recollection.html




"A strange light" - Rockhampton, Queensland - 17 October 1931

Hi readers,

When searching the National Library of Australia's TROVE digitised newspaper collection using the keywords "strange light" I came across the following article.

"A strange light
Seen in the west
Independent observers.

Hlamy writes: Please allow me a small space in your valuable paper to write of a strange trail of light seen in the western sky between 6.30 and 7pm Saturday evening October 17th. When first seen, this trail of light was shaped like a capital "I" or figure "7", then it changed into a long wavy line like a great serpent. Much brighter and bigger at the lower end. It stayed in the sky about twenty minutes and then suddenly disappeared. The two snapshots enclosed are time exposures of one minute, taken at fifteen minutes to 7 o'clock. Note the small star at the lower end of the trail.

Another observer

Stockman: Who else besides myself saw the wonderful sight in the western sky on Saturday evening 17th saw this dazzling affair. The sun was down a good time and the moon's light not very bright. The time must have been a little past 7 o'clock. The affair resembled a thick snake, head downwards, all brilliant white, while several clouds nearby were quite black. In fact there was not another white cloud in the sky. It held its shape for a while. Then the tail changed and it started to pale, turning pink as it did so. The head stayed strong and pink to the last, I had no watch but before it paled I had ridden a mile watching it all the time. I had an idea it came on suddenly, as I shut a gate several minutes before and saw nothing.

Superstitious people will be wondering what it fortells. I'm trying to believe our long delayed rain is close at hand.

Almost vertical

A mysterious phenomenon was witnesses by many residents as dusk was approaching on Saturday evening last, says our Winton correspondent. It took the form, when first observed of, a pencil of white steam-like substance.

Photo

It was located in the sky, south of Winton, at an altitude of about half way between the horizon and the zenith close to the two pointers of the southern cross. The mysterious white streak stood almost vertical and unravelled slowly downwards at the same time growing thicker, until it was about the length (to the eye) of the distance between the southern cross pointers.

After about ten minutes it began to bend as if blown by an air current, and assumed the shape of a reverse mark of interrogation. The lower end was now in the shape of  an arrow head and drifted lower and in a westerly direction, until a s darkness came on, it faded from view.

Enormous meteor

An enormous meteor or falling star, which fell in a north-westerly direction was observed in the Winton district. It reached the dimensions of a huge electric light and had a brilliant red sword-like tail. Meteors have been seen in the Alpha district recently."

Source: "Morning Bulletin" [Rockhampton, Qld: 1878=1954] Wednesday 21 October 1931 p6.

Notes

1. Rockhampton, Queensland is at latitude 27 deg 24 mins south; longitude 150 deg 30 mins east.

2. The sun set that night at 6.03pm [UTC plus 10 hours.]

3. At 6.45 pm the sun was 9 degrees below the horizon at azimuth 15 deg south of west.

4. The moon was at 69 degrees elevation; azimuth 29 deg south of west.

5. From Rockhampton it was seen to the west, and from Winton it was seen to the south. Looking at a map this seems to indicate it was the one object seen from these localities.

6. All the details suggest that the observers were watching the trail of a bright meteor, distorted by high altitude winds.

The first published Australian report of a UFO sighting?

Hi readers,

"From their own research, Australian ufologists believe that the first published report of the sighting of an unidentified flying object in this country occurred as far back as October 1874, at Beechworth in Victoria."

So wrote author Stephen Holledge, on page two of his 1965 Australian book titled "Flying Saucers Over Australia" (published by Horwitz. Sydney.) However, no one to my knowledge has ever been able to precisely pin down what was seen, and when in October 1874, this happened. In version three of my catalogue of Australian pre 24 June 1947 sightings, I mentioned that I had been unable to ascertain further details.

I therefore recently conducted a search of TROVE newspapers for the Beechworth area of Victoria, for October 1874, and located one article which may have been the source of the observation referred to by Holledge.

The "Avoca Mail" dated Thursday 13 October 1874 on page 2, reported that at 6.15pm on Sunday 4 October 1874, inhabitants of Beechworth reported an unusual sight in the sky. The sun had already set when at 60 degrees elevation in the north-north-west appeared what seemed a flash of lightning. A "...brilliant and beautiful meteor" appeared, with its head said to have been larger than Venus. It left behind a silver tail which stretched from 60 degrees elevation to the horizon. At one point this trail looked like the "shape of a gigantic snake." This took some 15 minutes to disappear. The sky was clear at the time. The article mentions that the same thing was seen from the localities of Chilton and Wagga Wagga.

Similar accounts are to be found in the Melbourne "Argus" dated Monday 12 October 1874 page 6; and the "Sydney Morning Herald" dated Friday 9 October 1874 page 2.

The wide geographic distribution of sightings indicates that the object was most probably a meteor leaving a vivid trail in the sky, blown about by high altitude atmospheric winds.

The "inhabited sky" conference

Hi readers,

The "El Cielo habitado" conference, was held in Madrid, Spain over two days, 27-28 May 2015, and was organised by Chris Aubeck.  Included in the event were presentations by Jacques Vallee; Chris Aubeck; Nigel Watson; Theo Paijmans; Jesus Callejo; and Juan Jose Sanchez-Oro.

On the 27th

 

Jacques Vallee spoke on the social impact of reports of anomalous phenomena through the ages. 

Nigel Watson reviewed the media reporting of advances in aviation and space travel and its shaping of cultural responses.

Theo Paijmans examined the early twentieth century cultural impact of comics and other forms of literature, in relation to the phenomena.

There was then a question and answer time with Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck.

On the 28th

 

Juan Jose Sanchez-Oro, examined medieval art in search of clues to reports of that era.

 

Chris Aubeck covered the idea of a populated universe from Ancient Greece to the beginning of the modern era of "flying saucers."

 

Jesus Callejo, a journalist and author of over twenty books on history and folklore, spoke about the idea of flying machines before these were known in orthodox history.

 

Books

Image courtesy of Amazon Books.

 

For those blog readers interested in reading more on these topics, you might like to take a look at "Wonders in the Skies" by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck.

Image courtesy of Amazon Books.

 For any blog readers who can read Spanish, take a look at "Ooparts: Objetos fuera de su tiempo" (Objects out of time) by Juan Jose Sanchez-Oro and Chris Aubeck.

 

 

Videos

 

A number of conference presentations are available on Youtube, including the following:

Jacques Vallee.

Chris Aubeck.

Nigel Watson.

Alternative view

 

Jason Colavito, is a US author, editor, and blogger, who refers to himself as a "sceptical xenoarchaeologist." After the conference, Colavito posted a review of some of Jacques Vallee's presentation. Colavito has previously published pieces, critical of Vallee's work in this area, which may be read here and here. Other pieces about Vallee's work, by Colavito appear here , here , and here.  



 



"Moon's strange companion" - Cairns, Queensland - 6 July 1945

Hi readers,

In a previous post I looked at an observation made near Manjimup, Western Australia and failed to make an identification of the reported object. Further browsing of TROVE led me to another apparent mystery.

The Saturday 7 July 1945 edition of the "Cairns Post" [Qld: 1909-1954] on page 5, carried the following story:

"Moon's strange companion.
At 8am yesterday R.A.A.F. meteorologists at the aerodrome noticed  a minute, star-like object in the sky only a short distance from the moon and apparently on the same plane. At noon the tiny shape was still beside the moon which it had followed on its course, maintaining an almost constant position in relation to the heavenly body.

Intrigued by the phenomenon, the Air Force observed it through a theodolite, which made it appear completely balloon shaped. That would have solved the problem of its identity: it might have been a weather balloon had it not so persistently followed the moon.

Weather experts argued that it was too bright a day for a star to be perceptible, and also the object was not luminous and that since the sun was shining on it must be within the same atmospheric plane.

One suggestion was that it was a planet which, owing to peculiar atmospheric conditions had suddenly become visible. A telescope inspection, too proved ineffective."

Explanation

 

After reading the entire article, I had a very good idea of what the minute, star-like object was. However, I checked with two electronic star charts to be sure.

 

At 8am on that day, the moon was at elevation 54 degrees and azimuth 25 degrees east of north. What was at elevation 52 degrees and azimuth 28 degrees east of north? The answer was, the planet Venus.

 

During the day, as the sky rotated (of course actually it is the Earth which rotates), both the moon and the planet Venus would have moved together across the sky.

 

 Interestingly, the planet Mars was also near the moon that day. However, due to its lesser brightness than Venus, it would not have been visible to the naked eye.

 

Why was not Venus immediately suspected as the cause of the observation? I believe it is because most people do not know that you can sometimes see the planet Venus in broad daylight with the naked eye. In clear skies, I have seen Venus during the day on several occasions. Mostly, I checked an astronomical chart first and found where it was in relation to the sun. However, once I found it by accident during the middle of the afternoon.

 

In this instance at Cairns, I believe that the observers' eyes would have been attracted to Venus as it was near the clearly visible moon.

 

You will note, that there was a suggestion in the newspaper article that it might have been a planet, but Venus was not specifically mentioned.

 

Observation solved!

 

A similar event

 

 Page 5 of the "Kalgoorlie Miner" [WA:1895-1950] for Friday 19 November 1909, reported:

 

 

 

"An Unusual Phenomenon.

Port Hedland Nov 18.

 

An extraordinary astronomical phenomenon was witnessed here yesterday, the sun, moon and a brilliant star near the moon being all visible from 10.30am to 4pm."

 

At 10.30am that day, the moon was at elevation 27 degrees, at azimuth 20 degrees south of east. What was at elevation 26 degrees, azimuth 20 degrees south of east? The planet Venus.

 

Second observation solved!