Other Tongues -- Other Flesh | Page 5

this giant air-ship hovered one half hour at a time and descended at regular intervals very close to the Earth. A giant searchlight flooded the whole city with light from this aerial monster which with the velocity of an eagle darted up and away. Power source must have been attached to the light for it dimmed as the ship went up and away. On observer states that there seemed to be a basket or car beneath a great dark object thought to be a gas bag overhead . . . car was shaped like a canoe and had four wings, two on each side, fore and aft . . . light was greenish or blue against the light of a locomotive in the rail yard that was yellowish. Colored lights seemed to be all around the car."
This unusual craft showed up later in Michigan, but before quoting from the record, let's analyze the above report. First of all, the authorities passed off the entire incident by calling the spacecraft the planet Venus. That same thing has happened in our present Saucer saga. They called the object Captain Mantell was chasing Venus, when it couldn't possibly have been that planet. This craft over Kansas City flashed blue-green lights and this color combination is now predominant in Saucer sightings of to-day. The report goes on to state that the power source must have been attached to the light for it dimmed as the ship went up and away. It is known today that the speed of Saucers has a great deal to do with the color changes.
Chicago Record, April 3, 1897: "_Flying Machine Now in Michigan!_ People of Galesburg saw a brilliant white light approach from the SW . . . object appeared large and black with a crackling, sharp sound. It hovered close to the Earth. Reporters state that they heard human voices from aloft . . . from the airship! When the ship went off, it seemed to be tipped with flame. (Local comment was that the airship had caught fire!) Time: 10.00 p. m."
Chicago Record, April 6, 1897: "_Airship Now Into Illinois!_ Seen first at 8:00 p. m. in NW . . . . large red light. Suggestions of balloon are refuted because airship flew at tremendous speed into a high wind."
Chicago Record, April 7, 1897: "Airship seen many times last few weeks. Large numbers of people first hand witnesses. One time, a motorman of a trolley actually stopped his vehicle so he and passengers could look at the wonderful sight . . . just ahead of his trolley, the ship seemed about six-hundred feet up and about one-hundred feet long. The motorman, Mr. Newville, says it was ellipsoid with large projections fore and aft. There was a bright headlight in front and a red light in the rear."
From Hastings, Nebraska, came the report that the "airship" had been seen in Grand Island, Oxford, York and Kearney. Scoffers claimed these people had seen Venus, yet all the reporters were people of substance and not given to reporting spurious stories. This all happened in 1897, but we could date it 1956 and it would be right up to date. To-day, officialdom tries to explain much of it away as "natural" phenomena. Airplanes hadn't been invented in 1897 so they explained it away as balloons or Venus . . . today they say it's balloons, Venus, or airplanes . . . two-thousand years ago they might have called it "Apollo", or "chariots of fire", or "wheels within wheels".
Chicago Record, April 9, 1897: "_Airship Seen In Iowa!_ Between West Liberty and Cedar Rapids appeared a bright light . . . giant airship . . . steel body. When leaving it appeared to be a large star weaving about and stars do not weave around the heavens!"
Chicago Record, April 10, 1897: "_Airship Sighted Over Chicago And Evanston!_ People are tripping over themselves these days trying to get the best look at this green and white-lighted giant air-ship that has had the people all over the mid-west in a dither. Some people think the end of the world is near . . . Scientific minds have explained the whole thing away by now. The mystery will surely be cleared up in a few days. Mr. Carr, an aeronaut, has built an experimental balloon and is financed by a New York theatrical wig manufacturing company . . . Mr. Carr states his machine works marvelously, but cannot go against the wind . . . power is storage battery with propeller! Professor Hough of Northwestern University and head astronomer of the observatory stated when asked to train his telescope on the object: 'I am busy with sights on Jupiter and it would be too troublesome to change to look at this new thing.' The next day,