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375
The Book of the Damned
·
Charles Fort
357
L'Annee
Scientifique,
1877-45:
Lights
that
appeared
in
the
sky,
above
Vence,
France,
March
23,
1877;
described
as
balls
of
fire
of
dazzling
brightness;
appeared
from
a
cloud
about
a
degree
in
diameter;
moved
relatively
slowly.
They
were
visible
more
than
an
hour,
moving
northward.
It
is
said
that
eight
or
ten
years
before
similar
lights
or
objects
had
been
seen
in
the
sky,
at
Vence.
London
Times,
Sept.
19,
1848:
That,
at
Inverness,
Scotland,
two
large,
bright
lights
that
looked
like
stars
had
been
seen
in
the
sky:
sometimes
stationary,
but
occasionally
moving
at
high
velocity.
L'Annee
Scientifique,
1888-66:
Observed
near
St.
Petersburg,
July
30,
1880,
in
the
evening:
a
large
spherical
light
and
two
smaller
ones,
moving
along
a
ravine:
visible
three
minutes;
disappearing
without
noise.
Nature,
35-173:
That,
at
Yloilo,
Sept.
30,
1886,
was
seen
a
luminous
object
the
size
of
the
full
moon.
It
"floated"
slowly
"northward,"
followed
by
smaller
ones
close
to
it.
"The
False
Lights
of
Durham."
Every
now
and
then
in
the
English
newspapers,
in
the
middle
of
the
nineteenth
century,
there
is
something
about
lights
that
were
seen
against
the
sky,
but
as
if
not
far
above
land,
oftenest
upon
the
coast
of
Durham.
They
were
mistaken
for
beacons
by
sailors.
Wreck
after
wreck
occurred.
The
fishermen
were
accused
of
displaying
false
lights
and
profiting
by
wreckage.
The
fishermen
answered
that
mostly
only
old
vessels,
worthless
except
for
insurance,
were
so
wrecked.
In
1866
(London
Times,
Jan.
9,
1866)
popular
excitement
became
intense.
There
was
an
investigation.
Before
a
commission,
headed
by
Admiral
Collinson,
testimony
was
taken.
One
witness
described
the
light
that
had
deceived
him
as
"considerably
elevated
above
ground."
No
conclusion
was
reached:
the
lights
were
called
"the
mysterious
lights."
But
whatever
the
"false
lights
of
Durham"
may
have
been,
they
were
unaffected
by
the
investigation.
In
1867,
the
Tyne
Pilotage
Board
took
the
matter
up.
Opinion
of
the
Mayor
of
Tyne--"a
mysterious
affair."
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