-Spokane Chronicle-
-Spokane, Washington-
-Saturday, October 8, 1898-
-Page 2-
A Huge Object, Far Up in the Air, Sails Over Spokane
SHINING LIKE A BIG STAR.
Mrs. I. S. Kaufman, an Unimpeachable Witness, Describes the Strange and Startling Visitor.
A real air ship is reported as having been seen flying over Spokane by reliable people last Wednesday afternoon about 1 o’clock. It is described by those who saw it as the most wonderful and startling thing ever seen, but the object was not close enough to the ground to be closely examined.
Mrs. I. S. Kaufman, who lives at the corner of Baldwin and Hamilton streets, is one of the best known and most popular residents of the city – a leader in church circles, a popular member of Sorosis, and a lady whose word is accepted by every one as being as good as a bond – far better than many bonds that have been given in Spokane county. Mrs. Kaufman is one of those who saw the strange visitor on Wednesday and nothing in the world could convince her that it was not an air ship. A reporter called on Mrs. Kaufman to ascertain the accuracy of the report and was told that if the object seen by her was not an air ship she would not believe her own eyes in the future.
It seems like Mrs. Kaufman has already answered the question of the day. It was an air ship. Surely we can trust her, her word is as good as a bond after all.
If only somebody had told her about aliens, then maybe she wouldn’t be so sure. That’s right. This is a UFO story. Let’s continue.
Dark Object in the sky.
“It was shortly after half past twelve o’clock Wednesday afternoon,” said Mrs. Kaufman, “when a man named Jones who was fixing up the garden around the house came to me and said he would like to use our field glasses for a short time. I could not find them and told him so after I had looked for them quite a while. He then told me that there was a dark object approaching in the sky from the east, which he had been watching for some time and he would like to get the glasses to see what it was.
Not a Cloud Nor a Bird
“I went out with him and there saw the same thing. My little boy and several of the neighbors also saw it, and have been thinking ever since what it could be if it was not an air ship. It could not have been imagination, for we could not all have imagined the same thing. The object was not a cloud and not a large bird. I can not imagine what it could have been if it was not an air ship.
Things that are in the sky: - Clouds - Birds - Air ships - Aliens?
Bigger than a House.
“The air ship when it first appeared in sight in the eastern sky was very small, but as it gradually approached it grew to huge proportions and looked to be much larger than our house when directly overhead.
If this thing was bigger than a house, I’m wondering why birds were even in the conversation at all. I’m beginning to question Mrs. Kaufman’s credibility.
Shining Like a Star.
“When the flying machine – if flying machine it was – had passed a little ways over our heads it became of a bright silver color, something like a star and seemed to grow brighter all the time. It shone so bright in a short time that it was a strain on our eyes to keep it in view. The machine must have been about three miles high in the air and was not plainly visible so I decided to go in the house again and look for the field glasses. I could not find them, and when I came outside to take a last look at the strange object it had almost disappeared in the west, only a small dark spot in the sky being visible.
“The object was traveling at a terrific rate of speed, as it was only a short time in passing from the east to the west and I can only conclude that it was an air ship and nothing else. All the rest of those who saw the object in the sky agree with me. They have never seen an air ship but have read of one many times and do not hesitate in saying that it could have been nothing but a flying machine.”
Okay fine, I guess it’s only kind of a UFO story since everybody and Mrs. Kaufman all seem pretty convinced that it was an air ship. Air ships were invented in 1852, basic ones at least, but 46 years later not a lot of people had seen one yet. Mr. Zeppelin wouldn’t even have his first successful airship for another two years.
To be fair, if I saw an air ship, I’d be calling the press and looking for my field glasses too. They’re very impressive, especially when they don’t explode and crash and burn.
Mrs. Kaufman was reluctant to have her name mentioned in connection with the story, but is willing to take her oath that she saw that strange object last Wednesday.
Interesting that they put this at the end of the article after they’ve already told everybody her name, where she lives, and the clubs she’s a part of.
During my research on this article, I found a bunch of other articles about airship sightings. Turns out it was a whole thing (link to another blog about the whole thing). There was a series of sightings between 1896 and 1897 that were all similar, although it seems nobody knows how they’re related. Some people think it was all a hoax by journalists to get more attention. Others think it was some rich guy building and testing an airship across the continent. A few people think it was Martians. Some of the articles actually get pretty creative. This article though, is interesting because it was reported separately and a year later than that wave of sightings while most of the information I’ve found says that the sightings ended in 1897. I still don’t think it was Martians though.
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