BOOK OF THE DAMNED 283 



"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 dis- 

 playing false lights and profiting by wreckage. The fishermen an- 

 swered that mostly only old vessels, worthless except for insur- 

 ance, were so wrecked. 



In 1866 (London Times, Jan. 9, 1866) popular excitement be- 

 came 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 Dur- 

 ham" 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." 



In the Report of the British Association, 1877-152, there is a 

 description of a group of "meteors" that traveled with "remark- 

 able slowness." They were in sight about three minutes. "Re- 

 markable," it seems, is scarcely strong enough: one reads of "re- 

 markable" as applied to a duration of three seconds. These "me- 

 teors" had another peculiarity; they left no train. They are de- 

 scribed as "seemingly huddled together like a flock of wild geese, 

 and moving with the same velocity and grace of regularity." 



Jour. Roy. Astro. Soc. of Canada, Nov. and Dec., 1913: 



That, according to many observations collected by Prof. Chant, 

 of Toronto, there appeared, upon the night of Feb. 9, 1913, a spec- 

 tacle that was seen in Canada, the United States, and at sea, and 

 in Bermuda. A luminous body was seen. To it there was a long 

 tail. The body grew rapidly larger. "Observers differ as to whether 

 the body was single, or was composed of three or four parts, with 

 a tail to each part." The group, or complex structure, moved with 

 "a peculiar, majestic deliberation." "It disappeared in the distance, 

 and another group emerged from its place of origin. Onward they 

 moved, at the same deliberate pace, in twos or threes or fours." 

 They disappeared. A third group, or a third structure, followed. 



Some observers compared the spectacle to a fleet of airships: 

 others to battleships attended by cruisers and destroyers. 



