Free The UFO Singularity by Micah Hanks Page B

Danelek supposes could indicate the onset of some kind of disaster; perhaps the vessel crashed or was destroyed in some other way. 6
    Interestingly, the United States wasn’t the only country in which reports of strange “mystery airships” would begin to occur quite early, especially with relation to the kinds of technology apparently being used. Little more than a decade after the strange aircraft first seen over Sacramento made its rather curious presence known, similar reports then began to emanate from Australia that involved bright, colored lights seen in the skies. According to an August 9, 1909, story that appeared in
The Barrier Miner
:
    The Rev. B. Cozens, of the Port Melbourne Seamen’s Mission, tells an interesting story regarding the mysterious lights which appeared in the air over the Dandenong Ranges on Saturday night. Going outside at 10 o’clock, he saw, half a mile up in the air, two revolving lights moving overthe ranges. They slowed down, dipped, and rose up again, then changed from white to red and to blue. Mr. Cozens called his wife and three neighbours. They all watched the lights until midnight, by which time one had almost moved out of sight over the ranges. Again at 2 o’clock Mr. Cozens saw the second one, which almost crossed the ranges. Five more appeared in the distance, moving in the direction taken by the other two. 7
    Australian researcher Andrew Nicholson brought this report, along with several others from around the same time, to my attention, noting that: “Passengers on the Melbourne express also witnessed the light, which had been seen the previous two nights flying above the Southern Highlands and the coast between Mittagong and Wollongong.” 8 According to an article in the
Sydney Morning Herald
that described the event, it was believed that the witnesses had probably seen “a balloon or airship.” 9
    Many point out that, although approaches by those like Danelek are indeed speculative endeavors (and to be clear, the author himself states this early on in his book), the thesis Danelek presents does illustrate a few important elements worthy of consideration. Because the technology needed to produce the craft described in various eyewitness reports could easily have existed by 1896, the case could also be made that the craft being seen around the time would hardly fit the conventional “extraterrestrial” model of what many take UFOs to be. In fact, Danelek’s own feelings seem to be quite the contrary:
    What I found most curious about the whole affair—and a point which I believe has been overlooked by most commentators over the years—is that at the time, most witnesses thought the vehicle was neither imaginary nor extraterrestrial. Instead, most believed it to have been a very man-made machine—a powered balloon perhaps or, more accurately, a dirigible—being tested in the chilly night air of North America. In other words, they saw it as neither hoax nor alien visitor, but simply as an example of nascent technology being put through its paces by some mysterious but intrepid inventor. 10
    Although the clandestine nature of this statement seems both incredible and intriguing, how much more incredible would it be than the literal idea that the craft in question were extraterrestrial, assuming of course that reports of its presence were more than mere newspaper hoaxes? Again, however, we must remember that Danelek and others have pointed out already how a number of respectable local officials and other individuals had claimed to see the “craft” during the Sacramento event, whatever it actually was. Additionally, despite the view that journalists of the 19th century were held to less scrupulosity than those in media today, the newspapers reporting the story at the time
did
have similar reputations to uphold; it seems the story of an airship drifting through the night skies above Sacramento would hardly have been considered worthy of the front page, had it been the