AN UNUSUAL AND STARTLING CELESTIAL PHENOMENON. 363 



AN UNUSUAL AND STARTLING CELESTIAL PHENOMENON. 



Shortly after sunset, Monday, September 12th, the attention of people upon 

 the streets was drawn to one of the most singular displays in the heavens ever 

 witnessed. Directly overhead, as far as the view was unbroken by buildings, 

 appeared a clearly defined belt of light, almost milk white, and apparently about 

 twelve degrees in width. The view of the phenomenon from the street was, of 

 course, greatly obstructed, and the excitement was so great that the tops of 

 buildings were soon well filled by wildly-speculating, and in many instances, 

 frightened citizens. Following closely as the phenomenon did upon the peculiar 

 atmospheric disturbance of a week ago, it gave rise to apprehension in the minds 

 of many who, under ordinary circumstances, would have looked upon it only 

 with surprise. Viewed from an eminence, the apparition presented a wonderful 

 spectacle. From the eastern horizon to the western, it stretched in an unbroken 

 line, its edges as definite as those of a gayly-colored ribbon. Although it was as 

 white as pure smoke sometimes appears, it had a peculiar life-like appearance 

 that smoke never has, and seemed to emit a ghostly light. No two persons who 

 viewed it seemed to have the same idea in regard to it. One man with whom a 

 reporter talked, asserted that he had witnessed something almost like it just before 

 the war ; another — an old gray-haired man — gazed at it in wonder, and said that 

 he had never seen anything to be compared with it; a third thought it was the 

 tail of one of the many comets that have appeared of late, while a fourth asserted 

 that it was an aurora. Determmed to fathom the mystery, if possible, an Argus 

 reporter hastened toward the Dudley Observatory at about 8:30 o'clock, when 

 the phenomenon had almost disappeared. As he climbed the hill leading to that 

 institution, the only traces of the apparition that remained were directly over- 

 head, and formed two sides of a triangle, the point seeming to be in the zenith. 

 By the time he reached the observatory all traces had disappeared. Prof. Boss 

 was unfortunately found to be out of the city. In answer to the reporter's ring 

 at the door, one of the professor's assistants appeared. He wore an excited look, 

 and upon being interrogated it was found that he had completed an observation 

 of the phenomenon. 



"At eight o'clock I first saw it, and its effect was absolutely startling. It 

 spanned the heavens from east to west, and seemed of very nearly equal breadth 

 the whole distance. It was sharply defined. At its southern edge it extended 

 from the horizon through Zeta and Delta Bootes ; thence through Nu Pi Hercules, 

 to and through Alpha Lyra. From that point it extended to the south of the 

 Great Square in Pegasus. The northern branch in the east extended up through 

 the head of Draco, and there seemed to be a strong ray of light, very marked, 

 continuing from Gamma Bootes, while around to the north there were several 



