le Un météore sizzling from the heavens manque de seulement quelques pieds de percuter la
goélette côtière Earl P. Mason de Cap Hatteras au passage de la rivière Satilla (Georgie),
vers Philadelphie. L'équipage dira que c'était un des spectacles les plus magnifiques qu'ils aient vu. Le météore
éclata en de nombreux morceaux et éparpilla ses fragments bouillants tout autour, dont certains, alors qu'ils
plongeaient dans la mer, made reports that sounded like cannonade. Particles of the meteor, as they flew through the
air with the appearance of red hot chunks of iron, struck the water with hissing sounds and disappeared only to send
up great masses of steam where they had gone down. The condition of the atmosphere during the fall of the meteor was
most peculiar. There were gaseous odors all around, and even the surface of the ocean glowed as if it were ablaze.
The heavens, too, appeared to be on fire. From the zenith to the surface of the water, there were long trails of
sparks along the clearly outlined path of the meteor. It became necessary for the vessel to "lay to” under storm
trysails until the atmosphere had assumed its normal condition. The vessel's compass was visibly affected, and the
needle fluctuated without regard to the cardinal points. The official log of the Mason, as written and reported by
Captain Brown, shows that the meteoric shower had been preceded by a terrific gale on February 21, in latitude
34.34, longitude 76.45. The mainsail was blown to tatters, and the foresail was taken in to save it. When the wind,
which blew at the rate of 60 miles an hour, had subsided, the meteor burst athwart the heavens as above described,
with a tremendous report, and lighted up the firmament with a supernatural glow. During the sailors’ awe-stricken
observance of this phenomenon, a heavy sea boarded the vessel, stove in her boat and damaged the decks. The
remainder of the journey was a pleasant one, so far as the weather was concerned. s1Manitoba Daily Free Press, 1893-04-11 < Greenwood, Barry < "A
Meteor Storms A Vessel", Water UFO
le A 17 miles environ au sud de l'île de Cheju, au sud de la
péninsule Coréenne, le capitaine Charles J. Norcock et les membres l'équipage du H.M.S. Caroline voient un
phénomène atmosphérique . First reported by the officer of the watch, bright globular lights were seen between the
ship and an island on a cold, windy, moonlit night. The lights, bearing north, stayed in sight for two hours. The
ship was traveling at seven knots. Exactly twenty-four hours later, the unusual lights were again seen by the crew
of the “Caroline,” this time due east of So Island, approximately 50 miles north of Cheju. Again, the night was
clear, moonlit, and cold, but only a slight wind was blowing. The lights were traveling with the ship on a northwest
bearing. Soon a small islet was passed and this, for a time, obscured the lights from view. “The globes of fire
altered in their formation as on the previous night,” Norcock said, “now in a massed group, with an outlying light
away to the right, then the isolated one would disappear, and the others would take the form of a crescent or
diamond, or hang festoon-fashion in a curved line. A clear reflection or glare could be seen on the horizon below
the lights. Through a telescope the globes appeared to be of a reddish colour, and to emit a thin smoke. [possibly
steam from the field touching the water-CF-] “I watched them for several hours, and could distinguish no perceptible
alteration in their bearing or altitude, the changes occurring only in their relative formation, but each light
maintained its oval, globular form. “They remained in sight from 10 P.M. until daylight (about 5:30 A.M.). When lost
sight of, the bearing was one or two points to the westward of north. At daylight, land 1,300 feet high was seen to
the north and north-northwest, distant 50 miles, the mirage being extraordinary.” Norcock reported that a Captain
Castle, commanding “H.M.S. Leander,” saw lights in the same area at about the same time. Castle was of the opinion,
however, that what the officers of his ship witnessed was a volcanic disturbance. “The background of high land seen
on the first night dispels all idea of these extraordinary lights being due to a distant volcano,” Norcock remarked.
“The uniformity of the bearing renders the theory of their being fires on the shore most improbable. I am inclined
to the belief that they were something in the nature of St. Elmo's fires.” s2Nature, May 25, 1893.
St. Elmo's fire is “the glow accompanying the slow discharge of electricity to earth from the atmosphere” that
“usually appears as a tip of light on the extremities of pointed objects such as church towers, the masts or ships .
. . it is commonly accompanied by a crackling or fizzing noise.” It is seen “most frequently . . . at low levels
through the winter season during and after snowstorms.” s3The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition (Cambridge, England: At the University Press, 1911), XXIV.
While it was cold on the evening of the “Caroline's” sightings, there are several features that do not fit the
regular pattern of St. Elmo's fire: (1) There were no indications that the lights were seen at the pointed
extremities. They were said to have followed the ship at a distance, and there was nothing in the report to the
effect that the “Caroline's” masts had attracted the lights. (2) There was no indication that a snowstorm had
occurred during or after the sighting. No sound such as “a crackling or fizzing noise” was reported. The fact that
the lights had disappeared from view as a small island was passed indicates either that the lights passed behind the
island, a considerable distance from the ship, or that the lights from the island had been refracted upward. The
“thin smoke” that seemed to appear with the lights is not a characteristic of St. Elmo's fire. Until the twentieth
century, ships' captains and crews were some of the best systematic observers of aerial phenomena. They had a clear,
commanding view of the skies, and only professional astronomers and meteorologists saw the heavens as much. Like
those who report modern UFO sightings, the sailors often attempted to explain the phenomena they had seen in terms
of the familiar. An analysis of their reports shows that their explanations were not sound. s4Gordon I. R. Lore and Harold H. Deneault: Mysteries of the Skies, pp. 47-48, 1968 < "02-24-1893", Water UFO
le “Fiery sphere on steamboat – strange phenomenon” We relate an extraordinary and most
strange incident, especially interesting to everyone. It happened in the sea, non loin de la côte du Peloponnese. Le
bâteau à vapeur Brenen1English word in the original was coasting 30 miles à
l'ouest du Cap Malée. The sea was rough on that day. The waves were
flooding the deck. Every hand that was on deck suddenly saw a fiery sphere coming out of the sea and falling on the
deck with a bang. They observed the phenomenon with great terror. A most powerful tremor shook the ship for en .
Everyone who did not saw [sic-see] the sphere but felt the tremor was asking what happened. Falling on the waters
upon the deck, the fiery sphere was put out and, being shuttered from the power of its impact, was taken by the
waves. This sort of phenomenon is inexplicable. s5Nea Efimeris, 1893-03-07, journal d'Athênes
According to information published in Asty newspaper, the commander of the English steamboat Vrenyer (Greek spelling
- original spelling unspecified) testified to the port authorities of Malta that, when his ship was 30 miles away
from Maléas Cape [Southern Peloponnese], he show [sic-saw] a fiery sphere of significant size, resembling a
cannonball, blasting off from the bottom of the sea. The sphere hit the ship’s prow and then fell on the deck where,
coming in contact with water being there because of the rough sea, was shattered and put out. The steamboat was not
damaged but was shaking for 20 seconds. According to the commander, the phenomenon originated from an undersea
volcano explosion and is related with the Zákynthos Island earthquake. s6Kairoi, 1893-03-08, journal d'Athênes sur le même incident < Aubeck, Chris (Magonia Exchange), E-mail dated May 24, 2011 < "03-03-1893", Water UFO