Fire ball sighting were always reported in the newspapers in the past. They caused a great deal of excitement among people who often had little idea of what they were.
Flaming Fire Ball Flashes Across Skies
At 12:55 p.m. this afternoon several Klamath Falls people were near stunned on seeing a flaming ball of fire flash across the sky and drop seemingly in the hills west of Lower Klamath Lake.
First hand information was given to The Herald immediately following the appearance of the strange phenomena by F.M. Priest, Arthur R. Wilson and Ina Graham, eye witnesses of the unusual occurrence.
“I could hardly believe my eyes in seeing the meteor pass over the sky” said Mr. Priest in giving an account of the happening. “It appeared to be a flaming ball of fire about one half the diameter of the moon. It was luminous and apparently fiery hot. It appeared to be four feet long. It left a great trail of smoke in the form of a rubber hose in its path across the sky. I am quite certain it was a meteor.”
Ina Graham who saw the meteor from a point of vantage on the hill near the high school substantiated the statements made by Mr. Priest. “A flaming ball of fire – that describes it as nearly as the eye could detect,” said Miss Graham. Yes – I was scared, I can assure you that. I believe it was a meteor – it seemed to drop on the other side of the hills west of Lower Klamath Lake. There was a distinct path of white smoke left in the trail of the ball of fire.”
Observation of the skies after the passing of the meteor showed a trail of curly, hazy white smoke.
Source: The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.), 13 Sept. 1919.
