In the twilight of the nineteenth century, something unusual went through the sky over the United States. Long before the Wright brothers conquered the air, strange cigar -shaped craftsmanship illuminated by powerful headlights appeared in hundreds of reports across the country. From California to New York, which is called “Phantom Airships” misleading faith – but they witnessed thousands.
California, November 1896: First observations
It started over Sacramento. On November 17, 1896, hundreds saw a brilliant delicate traversing a shadowy sky. Among them, George Scott, assistant to the Secretary of State, climbed the Capitol dome to take a closer look. Witnesses described a huge, murky object with lights and propellers. One man claimed that voices are shouting from heaven.
Five days later, the lights returned – it's TIAt the same time on Sacramento and San Francisco. In San Francisco, panicked seals escaped from a dazzling headlight, which is said to stretch hundreds of feet. Reports flooded with cities in California, including Los Angeles and San Diego. Then, until mid -December, the lights disappeared. 
Spring 1897: The tailgate becomes national
The second wave began in NebraSka on February 2, 1897 and swept to the east. Observations increased by Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. Until April, the reports reached New York. To sum up, there were over a thousand separate relationships, based on newspapers from the coast to the coast.
They were not miniature flashes of delicate. Witnesses described huge vessels, sometimes with many lights, moving quickly and often against the wind. In Milwaukee, a policeman watched four radiant items dancing over his head, then disappeared at night. Other observations included descriptions of gigantic cigar-shaped crafts equipped with many propellers, dazzling radiant lights I-ostra-motivated by glass compartments.
Not aliens, but people: strangely human meetings
Unlike the contemporary UFO knowledge, people's alleged residents were people. In Hot Springs, Arkansas, Constable John Sumptter announced that the meeting of the bearded man who claimed that he was traveling around the country in a control. The vessel with a length of about 60 feet was grounded, and the comrades filled water bags. The pilot offered Konstablers a ride. They refused.
Another story from Michigan talks about pilots asking for coffee and sandwiches with eggs. They paid in Canadian quarters and used the lifting measuring measure of the size of a freight car. In Texas, the control passenger introduced himself as “Smith” and asked for tools and lubricants – to give the full name.
In Rockland, Texas, the interaction was similarly mundane. The crew asked for Bluestone, chisel and pus and kindly refused to check the ship. He generously paid in cash and walked away as soon as he arrived. In Pine Lake, Michigan, a man woke up, tapping the window. Outside, there were characters with a request for a coffee kettle and a corkscrew – hunting him to joke that they must come from Milwaukee.
The most infamous thing comes from the ranch Kansas Alexander Hamilton. He claimed that the controller disregarded one of its cows and suffered it. The next day, the remains of the animal were found 10 miles away. Hamilton produced statements about the support of his history, but later he appeared that he was part of the local stories story club.
However, not all meetings were mystifications. In several reports, witnesses described mechanical details that exceeded every state-of-the-art invention. Interactions, although strange, were based on everyday language and activities, giving bills strange authenticity.
Aviation before flight: technological differences
In 1897, the powered flight did not exist. The breakthrough of the Wright brothers was in six years. However, witnesses described ships with a length of hundreds of feet, traveling at a speed of over 100 miles per hour, with headlights and perceptible control over the wind. At that time, no balloon or Diriable approached these feats.
Some believed that this crafts were secretly built. Names such as Thomas Edison were so often swam so that he issued a statement of refusal to commit. Despite this, skeptics as asking: what secret inventor would demonstrate his masterpiece in the murky, anonymously and disappear without appreciation?
Others blamed mass hysteria. At the end of the 19th century there was a golden age of yellow journalism. He sold a sensational with newspapers in fierce competition. Directors stories offered an irresistible copy. Observations often adapted to the place where stories in print appeared.
However, these explanations are not in a state of consistency of reports and the credibility of some witnesses. Some control accounts contained specific mechanical details, such as strange rotary systems and gondolas suspended by metal rods – apart from what every state-of-the-art inventor publicly revealed.
Media, memory and mystery
Although the exaggeration of the media undoubtedly played a role, not all stories were factories. Some witnesses were legislators, judges or public officials. Their accounts, though strange, were consistent and detailed. The helmet flap has become not only curiosity, but also a national point of conversation – a reflection of America's growing obsession with technology and mystery.
In a sense, the inflicts were the first mass observations of UFOs in America's history. But unlike later incidents related to the mystery and government intervention, it was a populist secret. Farmers, officials and police officers were storytelling, and the sky above them seemed open to miracles.
This open, democratic nature of meetings also meant that faith – and disbelief – was shaped locally. In some communities, observations have become a matter of civic pride; In others, the cause of ridicule. But anyway, the control stories entered American folklore.
Heritage of the phantom fleet
Until the summer of 1897, the cowstars disappeared as suddenly as they came. No wreck was found, no pilot appeared forward and no confirmed photos were taken. Most historians say that it was a convoluted mixture of incorrect identification, mystification, social expectations – and a media landscape willing to the spectacle.
However, something more hard-wearing continues. The wave from 1896–1897 helped to set a pattern for everything that will happen in UFO Lore: sweeping waves of observation, uncertain origin, skeptical media and lasting cultural fascination with the sky as a canvas for secrecy.
Perhaps the most noteworthy is how history has disappeared from the mainstream memory. Unlike Roswell or Area 51, the airship flap did not leave an institution or a conspiracy – simply newspaper paper, anecdotes and unresolved questions. For this reason, it remains a cleaner secret, unarmed by contemporary creation of myths.
Regardless of what drivers were – or were not – they captured the moment when the border between science and history, between hope and mystification, was temptingly gaunt.
Sources and referrals
Bullard, Thomas E. Steering wave in 1896–1897. Impossible archives, Rice University, 2006.
Busby, Michael. Solution of the control mystery from 1897.. Pelican Publishing, 2004.
Clark, Jerome. UFO encyclopedia: phenomenon from the very beginning. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1998.
Cohen, Daniel. The great secret of the airship: UFO from the 1890s. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1981.
Danel, J. Allan. A great ameer from 1897: provoking view of the most mysterious aviation event in history. Adventures Unlimited Press, 2009.
Selected articles from: Sacramento BeeIN Call San FranciscoIN Dallas Morning News (1896–1897 newspaper archives).
Image Source: Pixabay.com
