Source

WAS IT AN AIRSHIP?

A REMARKABLE OBJECT FLOATS OVER WILMINGTON.

Hundreds of People See It: It Was Brilliantly Lighted and Moved West, Looked Like It Had Rigging—Seen in Cities Out West.

Hundreds of people were out on the streets and wharves last night, looking at a brilliant floating mass in the heavens to the west of the city. It was moving very rapidly, and many persons saw a net-work about the aerial wonder. Some of our very best and most reliable citizens saw so much of the heavenly stranger that they had not the slightest doubt but that it was the airship which has been reported from other cities. The ship moved to the west at a rapid rate. It seemed to have something like a searchlight facing earthwards, and created a sensation among all classes of people. The ship appeared to come from the ocean and passed opposite Market street dock, going in the direction of the Navassa guano works. Some gentlemen who saw the ship through field glasses inform us that they could see wires and ropes and rigging about it. To the naked eye, many colored lights were visible. Even those who looked at it without glasses admit of no doubt but that it was an airship.

OMAHA SEES AN AIRSHIP.

Omaha, Neb., March 31.—During the last six months an alleged airship has been observed floating in the heavens in different sections of this state. For the last three nights, it has been seen hovering over Omaha. The unusual occurrence has led to the opinion that an inventor of a real airship has been testing his machine in Nebraska, preparatory to placing it before the public.

The indications are that John C. Preast, of this county, is the author of the mysterious machine, though he vigorously denies that such is the case. Preast occupies his time at his country residence, near Omaha, in experimenting with airships, constructing models, etc., and has been so engaged for the last ten years. Some time ago he told several persons that he would surprise the world with a working model in 1897.

There is no doubt that the light seen in different parts of the state is the same, since the descriptions by the persons who have seen it always agree. The light is about as large as a locomotive headlight, and it seems to be turned up or down, right or left at the will of some human agency. Sometimes it is seen rushing through the air at a very high rate of speed, and again is observed stationary or moving slowly through the heavens about half a mile high. The two times in the last week that the light has been seen at Omaha, it disappeared near Preast's home.

KANSAS CITY STARTLED.

Kansas City, Mo., April 4.—The light that appeared in the heavens over this city last night was watched for more than an hour by thousands of excited persons who crowded the streets or sought places of vantage on bluffs and house tops. The light was about the size of a locomotive headlight but was brighter and apparently electric. It appeared soon after 8 o'clock on the western horizon and swiftly approached the city until it rode in the sky like a wonderfully brilliant star, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Then it moved rapidly from north to south, dipped down toward the earth and rose again.

As the light rose, it became quite dim, but when it was falling or stationary or sweeping horizontally, it blazed out brilliantly again. Many persons were convinced that it was the searchlight of an airship. About 9:30 o'clock, the light suddenly grew small and red and swept off to the horizon in a northwesterly direction and disappeared.

About an hour later, telegrams from Everest, a little town in Brown County, Kansas, about sixty miles northwest of Kansas City, announced the appearance of the same mysterious light that had puzzled Topekans, including Governor Leedy and many other conspicuous men, a few nights since. One of the dispatches said:

"At 9:50 tonight, the light appeared in the southwest so brilliant that it attracted attention almost immediately. As the airship came over the city, the full power of the wonderful lamps was turned on, and the city was flooded with light. The entire population was soon outdoors watching the aerial navigator as it neared the earth, or with the velocity of an eagle darted upward and again in an instant would sail away into space until the lights merely twinkled. Then reversing, it would sail back over the heads of the astonished spectators. For five minutes at one time, it seemed to skirt the lowest edge of a cloud that hung low in the heavens, and it was then that the powerful lights were reflected on the clouds and the outlines of a ship about thirty feet long apparently were clearly distinguished.

"For one hour and twenty minutes, the airship was never out of sight, and while passing back and forth over the city, it made maneuvers, remaining stationary at different points. At one time, while the ship was motionless, immediately above the throng, with a clear sky for a background, the light disappeared and nothing was seen but a black mass for about ten seconds. Then the lights flashed out and the ship moved away to the right. In order to vouch for the accuracy of the facts set forth, The Times correspondent here obtained this affidavit:

"This is to certify that we, the undersigned, saw and watched for some time tonight the movements of large and brilliant lights that traveled at various heights over this city, and that we believe the same was seen at various other points, and believe it to be an airship."

The signers of the affidavit are J. E. Gunn, proprietor of the Commercial Hotel; E. E. Mason, of the roller mills; A. L. Stout, a capitalist; Cleve McGregor, of Lyons Brothers; and T. Ellington, all men of repute.

Kansas City people are nonplussed; there is a variety of explanations, but as to the light itself, there is no question.