Here is a curious report of a strange object passing over Augusta, Maine in 1909. The reports on the object vary, from a strange light and flashing lights to a traveling object to one that hovers. “A planet of peculiar shape” happens to be my favorite description of the UFO.
Ultimately, the “sensibly” minded try to dismiss the mass sightings as a passing balloon.
Strange Object Passes Over Augusta Early Thursday Evening
That either a big balloon or an airship visited, circled about and passed over Augusta in the direction of Lewiston between 6 and 7 o’clock Thursday evening is the belief of a number of persons who saw a strange object in the sky at that time, which seemed to be brilliantly lighted, while others are found to claim that it must have been a planet of peculiar shape and one man is found who avers that he saw it in about the same place in the sky on the previous night.
The airship or balloon theory seems to be the most reasonable on account of the distance which the object was seen to traverse, while its course was being watched.
One of the first persons to see the object was Charles F. Flynt, one of the proprietors of the Journal. He first saw the strange object in the sky at about 6 o’clock when leaving the Journal office. It seemed to him to be in shape like a big balloon, although little could be seen above the light on account of the distance away.
It was apparently a great deal higher than it was wide. The object when he first saw it was moving from northeast to southwest.
Mr. Flynt and others whose attention was called to the object by him watched it until it almost disappeared.
An hour later he again saw it from a location near his residence on East Crescent street where the view was entirely unobstructed. It gradually settled down over Betsy Howard hill and a second time disappeared.
The height in the sky of the object could not be estimated, but it seemed all the time to be moving away from the city and when last seen seemed to be as far off as Lewiston if not farther.
The object appeared to Mr. Flynt to be much larger than a star and his attention was attracted to it by the flashes of light coming from it. Later it seemed to swing around in the sky and the light appeared in a different direction.
A member of the Journal staff, who saw the mysterious object at about the same time, felt quite sure that he could discern two wings with a larger object in the middle and a brilliant light at the rear of the center, while a second light shed its rays upon the wings.
He states that the settling of the object was perceptible and seen at so great a distance he thinks that it must have been moving at a good rate of speed to make the settling noticeable.
Half a dozen of the Journal “Night Owls” climbed to the top of the Journal building and viewed the object and its movements until the trees on Grove Street obscured it from view.
The light or lights were seen to move swiftly, both up and down, seemed to circle and made several long gliding sweeps.
The direction from the Journal office was in a line bearing over the top of Rines Hill.
Robert Morang, who lives on Western Avenue, and who was able to see the strange object later than any of the other observers, watched it for some time with a field glass after it had passed over in the direction of Betsey Howard Hill and he is confident that it was a big balloon of some sort.
Horace E. Bowditch, who saw the object at about the same time that Mr. Flynt saw it, stated that it had a peculiar sparkle and appeared to him to be diamond shaped. He is of the opinion that it was a peculiarly shaped planet and says that a friend of his saw what was apparently the same object on the previous night in nearly the same position in which he noticed it Thursday evening.
Reports are awaited with interest by those who saw the strange object in the sky of its appearance in some other section.
Experiments have been made in various sections of the country with airships recently so that it is quite possible that the object in question may have been either an airship or a dirigible balloon.
Whatever it may have been, most of those who saw it say that it moved as if it was being steered in a certain direction rather than wafted by the wind.
Source: Daily Kennebec journal. (Augusta, Me.), 24 Dec. 1909.
