The Airship Sightings of 1896-97: A Hard Look
(2009) by Dennis Crenshaw
Part 3 Airship Discriptions - A Dellschau Connection?
As we have shown in the last two reports in this series the newspaper people of the times were only reporting what they were being told by eyewitnesses who had observed the mysterious
airships
Today's skeptics realize that their explanation of the newspaper stories regarding the Airship sightings being nothing more than a "hoax" perpetrated by the newsmen or railroad workers of the time
will
First we'll look at the front page 3 -column report carried in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on April 10, 1897, under the Headline "Airships From the Heavens" used in the first two
parts
Invariably its description has been the same. Still, more persons have observed the great headlight of the machine (see Figure 1) than have seen the outline of the vessel; though a great many claim to have caught glimpses of its workings.
The general
Now I'm no expert on astronomy, but the above description does not sound like any star I've ever observed.
Let's return to Richard Butler of Wolf Creek, Iowa. We met him in part two, when his horses spooked upon seeing the craft and bolted into a ditch. He (and his horses) got a close-up look at the flying machine and his description is as follows:
I was astonished to see a dark mass, through the windows of which the light shown. It was a long narrow car, resembling a corset box in shape, but perhaps 30 or 35 feet in length and 6 or 7 feet in width and height. Over this car floated a cigar-shaped bag, horizontally placed of about the same length as the car and 8 or 10 feet thick at its greatest diameter. . .
Another description comes from a dispatch in the same newspaper from Burlington Iowa;
Nearly every operator and agent [of the railroad line] along the Burlington road saw it.. . .... It is described as having a large headlight; probably 2 feet in diameter, which shed strong rays, and in some extent prevented a good view of the apparatus by its glare. However, the glittering body of the ship could be discovered and the dim, wing-like projections on either side, as described by previous observers. The strange craft moved swiftly through the air, making a slight hissing sound. It was in view generally for 20 minutes to half an hour .
. .
Girard Views the Airship
In the same issue:
Postmaster at Greenfield Ill. Gets a Look at It.
However, for now, the bottom line to this series of articles is;
To simply brush off the airship mysteries in question as just an elaborate "hoax" perpetrated by the newspaper men of the day upon their readers is a slap in the face to those men who were dedicated to furnishing their customers with the news. They believed they were reporting events that were actually taking place. The witnesses saw what they saw and reported exactly what these objects looked like to the newspapermen. With that in mind we need to look at the newspaper accounts of the period with a more open mind. After all, that's all we have left as evidence to the events.
Many of the descriptions of the 1897
airships
Compared to Dellschaus Aeros
When comparing Dellschaus Aeros to the
Mystery Airships
(The horses gave no description)
Then on April 13, 1897 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch once again turned the entire front page over to the on-going airship sightings, and for good measure added a second page to the coverage of this on-going and growing major news story of the day. The airship had arrived over St. Louis!
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Searchlights Flashed Toward the Earth for an Hour Monday Night
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Noise of Machinery Heard and Outlines of Craft Visible
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Testimony of Many Citizens Regarding the Mysterious Visitor
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The airship has arrived at St. Louis . . . this statement is vouched for by thousands who saw the mysterious visitor Monday evening . . . . At 7:30 o'clock Monday evening persons looking in a northwest direction saw a peculiar-shaped object push through the clouds at an elevation of about 25 degrees. From the point or bow of this object emanated a strong light that greatly resembled a powerful electric searchlight. This wave of brilliancy swayed back and forth; it was as if aerial navigators were sweeping the earth's surface with the ray's . . . This light shown forth for fully ten minutes, and then suddenly disappeared as if an electric current had been turned off. It was not an obscuration of the clouds. Many of those who witnessed the phenomenon-for there is no better word can be used-swear they saw a peculiarly shaped ship. One man described it as resembling a whaleback; others said it was more perfectly cigar-shape.
As the hours of Tuesday morning passed Post-Dispatch reporter obtained further corroboration of the mysterious sight that caused such excitement Monday night. The most startling testimony is that given by Ed Dillon . . . I saw a great light above me that resembled a falling meteor. It was coming directly toward me, so I thought. And you can bet I was frightened. But after dipping down it rose again and disappeared behind the clouds. I saw distinctly the outlines of what appeared to be a small vessel and I heard the rustle of machinery. Dillon's story is corroborated by John Rice . .
.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
April 14, 1897
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Several Men Claim it alighted near That Place
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The airship was distinctly seen here last night by P.F. McCraner, William Street, Frank Metcraft and Ed Steeples.
McCraner is night operator at this place and when he came on duty at 6 o'clock the operator at
Carlinville
McCraner stepped outside and fifteen minutes later saw what he believed was the airship passing over this town in the direction of N [--]wood. It was rapidly approaching the ground. McCraner asked the day operator to hold the wire for him and called Street, Metcraft and Steeples, who were standing near, he started on a run down the railroad track, they followed. As they went they saw the strange craft drop to the ground behind a clump of trees about a quarter of a mile distant. Before they could reach the spot the ship was seen to rise, ascend to a great height and disappear to the north. They were so near where it rose they could see persons in the boat and could also distinguish a large letter 'M' on the side. All the men agreed the craft was cigar shaped and had oars or wings extended. They continued on to the spot where it had alighted and saw distinctly the imprint of a man's feet. Their footprints did not lead anywhere and it was evident they were made by someone who had jumped out of the ship to repair some of the machinery on the outside. McCraner says he is willing to make affidavit to the above statements. A dispatch from
Carlinville
EXCERPT
The airship . . . has made its appearance in Oklahoma. Hundreds of people declare they have seen it Col. Yates, a newspaper editor of this city says he saw it, and it seemed to be nearly a hundred feet long and about one forth as wide. He said it went through the air towards the north, and the light, which would shine and then disappear resembling a flashlight of a lightning bug. He also says he saw persons inside the machine. Four others were with Editor Yates at the time.
A very good description of the airship comes from a report published in the St. Louis Star on April 20, 1897 on page 3 under the headline:
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The most interesting report of the aerial wonder comes from Illinois and seems to be well authenticated. . . . M.G. Sisson, postmaster at this place, was the most favored spectator. He was out walking in the woods that line the banks of Taylor Creek about three miles east of here. He had just started to return to the city when his dog which had accompanied him, ran to him and crouched down at his feet in abject terror. . . Presently he heard a noise which seemed to come from above and looking upward and to the northwest he beheld the airship approaching him. It was about 150 feet from the ground, but was not traveling very rapidly . . . it passed about 100 feet above him and by its close proximity he was enabled to get a very good view of it. It was about 100 feet in length and about fifteen in diameter at its largest point. Its depth was probably twenty-five feet. It looked as if it was made of metal and around its sides was a walk or deck which was protected by some sort of railing or net work.
[Note walkway with railing and people on it which extends along the side on the Aero Newall -Figure 2].
Continuing;
Near the top were wings projecting on either side. The wings were about twenty feet in width and reached nearly the entire length of the ship. The wings were so arranged that the front of them can be raised or lowered at the pleasure of the pilot, but otherwise they are stationary. When it is desired to raise the ship the front ends of the wings are raised to about an angle of thirty degrees and the great velocity of the ship in its forward motion raises it. On the top, just behind the pilot there was a device to assist in raising the vessel. It consists of a large fan resembling a very large screw wheel in a perpendicular position and revolved very rapidly. The motor power of this wonderful machine could not be dissected - it being inside.
While most of Dellschau's Aero's drawing have no wings the Sonora Aero Club worked on experimenting with wings as a possibility on their Aeros, including retractable wings. Several of Pete's drawings of the Aero's wings are included in our book Secrets of Dellschau. The group also worked in designing lights for the Aeros which correspond with those described in these reports. We also included illustrations of the lights from original Dellschau drawings along with Pete's detailed close-up sketches of the lighting fixtures in question in the book.
May 4, 1897
Another Vision of Airship
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Jenny Lind Ark.
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Citizens say what they saw
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One Man Took a Ride
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Several Conversed With the Occupants of the Craft, Who Gave Their Names
Excerpts
We at Jenny Lind are no longer skeptical. The airship has come and gone. About 7:30 last night our citizens were aroused by the cry from a dozen places in town "Airship!" "Airship!" The whole town turned out to see the long-looked-for wonder. It appeared from the northwest, moving in a southwesterly direction. It came directly over the town and as it approached the office of the Western Coal and Mining Co. it veered to the right and took a northwesterly direction. . . .
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Front Page
May 8, 1897
An Airship Seen in Open Daylight
George W. Lubke, Jr., has seen a real airship. Nobody in St. Louis will question the veracity of Mr. Lubke or his ability to understand and appreciate whatever he sees. He is a well know attorney in practice with his father, Judge Lubke in the Commercial building, and this is the event he described, as an eyewitness to a reported of the Post-Dispatch:
"Last night at 5:45 o'clock I had reached the corner of Easton avenue and Thomas street, when I chanced to look toward the sky in a southeasterly direction. A moving object, plainly in sight attracted my attention. It was apparently over Garrison avenue, moving north in a slow and steady course.
"I watched the object until it hung above Thomas Street. It stopped and proceeded to turn slowly about. Then I had an opportunity of viewing it more closely. It was not exactly cigar-shaped as the deflections at the ends were not pronounced to a point, but more like a canoe. As it veered about, I observed a white object in the center of the side ,though of course, I was unable to determine its character-whether a painted wheel or canvas.
"When the half-circle of the ship had been completed, its course changed to northwest; in which direction it traveled more rapidly and finally disappeared in the direction of the Fairgrounds.
"While walking on homeward I met a newspaper carrier who knew me, and he asked if I had seen the airship. I replied in a non-committal way by asking if he had seen it. Then he told me he had viewed it through an opera-glass from near Grand and Eason avenues. His description of the airship corresponded precisely with my own observation, even to the white object on the side.
"What do you think it was?" asked the reporter.
"An airship certainly," replied Mr. Lubke. "The turn it made while apparently hovering over Thomas street convinced me on that point."
"Could not the turn been caused by a shifting current of air?"
"No. Air currents don't shift in that way.
�Whether the aerial vessel had a passenger or not, I am unable to state. It was too greatly elevated to distinguish details with the naked eye, but in my judgment, it was an airship."
Here is a very detailed report by a highly respected St. Louis citizen; a star indeed. Let's look at a couple of more reports. From the same issue as above we find the first mention of an airship sighting on the east coast of the United States:
Special to the Post-Dispatch
New York - That airship has come out of the West, and according to the solemn testimony of citizens of Harlem and Bridgeport, it was cavorting around in midair here abouts early Friday morning. It seemed 100 feet in the air and a light shone [unreadable word] as if through portholes.
May 9, 1897
A Woman in it
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The airship stopped to take water near Hot Springs
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Special to the Post-Dispatch
Hot Springs Ark - One of the famous air-ships of which so much has been said and written recently, was seen last night about 6 miles west of the city by Constable John Sumpter and Deputy Sheriff John McLemore of this city. But little credence was given their story until the appearance in print to- day of their sworn affidavit touching the affair. They came upon it accidentally in the woods while on official business. They found it brilliantly illuminated on the banks of a stream where the ship had descended to take on water.
In conversation with the occupants, two men and a woman it was learned that they were en route to the Tennessee Centennial Exposition at Nashville. The officers were invited to take a ride in the ship, but declined with thanks.
The study continues . . .
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