Mystery Airships
The “Mystery Airships,” often also referred to as the “Great Airship Mystery,” denote a wave of unusual sightings that took place mainly in the United States between 1896 and 1897. These sightings were significant as they happened almost a decade before the Wright brothers made their historic powered flight in 1903.
The Wright brothers interest in flight was sparked at an early age when their father, Milton Wright, brought home a toy helicopter when they were children. The toy, based on an invention by French aeronautical pioneer Alphonse Pénaud, was made of paper, bamboo, and cork, with a rubber band to twirl its rotor. The boys played with it until it broke, and then built their own.
The sightings typically involved reports of unidentified vessels traveling through the sky, often described as airships or dirigibles, seen predominantly during the night. Witnesses would detail these as large, cylindrical objects, equipped with powerful searchlights and capable of remarkable speeds and maneuvers. They were frequently reported to be under intelligent control, further stirring intrigue and speculation.
The first sightings originated in California in late 1896. Newspapers like the “San Francisco Call” (Nov 1896) and “Sacramento Bee” (Nov 1896) began to report on sightings of a “mysterious airship.” Soon, the phenomena spread eastward, with sightings reported throughout the Midwest and as far as the Eastern coast. The reports peaked in April 1897, with a flurry of sightings in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, among others. By mid-1897, the sightings had largely ceased, leaving a trail of curiosity and controversy in their wake.
The question of ‘why’ these sightings occurred when they did remains a subject of debate.
Scientifically, the descriptions of the Mystery Airships’ capabilities in terms of speed, maneuverability, and control were well beyond the recognized technology of the time. For instance, the first practical dirigible – the Zeppelin – wasn’t flown until 1900, and the first powered, heavier-than-air flight by the Wright Brothers wouldn’t occur until 1903.
A notable report came from Aurora, Texas, where a local newspaper, the “Dallas Morning News” (April 1897), reported an airship colliding with a windmill, resulting in the death of its extraterrestrial pilot.
The first sighting of the wave occurred over Sacramento, California, on November 17, 1896, as per the Sacramento Bee. Witnesses reported a light moving at high speeds across the sky, sparking the beginning of the airship craze.
Even famous inventor Thomas Edison was drawn into the story. An article in the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” (April 1897) claimed that Edison was the genius behind the mystery airships. However, Edison denied any involvement.
Many UFOlogists, like Jerome Clark, have suggested the mystery airship sightings were early encounters with extraterrestrial craft. His book, “Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena,” discusses this theory.
“Mystery Airships” wave remains an intriguing chapter in the history of UFO phenomena, reflecting the hopes, fears, and fascinations of a society standing on the brink of the aviation age.
