EX-ARMY OFFICER'S THEORY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 11, 13 January 1912, Page 2

EX-ARMY OFFICER'S THEORY.

Recently a marked copy of a London newspaper containing the following letter was sent to the Editor of this journal. The letrfcer appears over ; the signature of E. E. Middleton, late of ELM. Army, Tower House, St. Matthew's Gairdens, St. Leonard's-on-Sea. In order to obtain an expert opinion on the ex-officer's startling theory, the letter was forwarded' to Mr J. T. Ward, Hon. Director of the Wanganui Observatory. His com- j ments are also printed below. i Mr Middleton's letter is as fol- ! lows:— j The eclipses of the sun as tabulated;, in the usual almanacks, appear to j prove that the earth is an extended ! surface and 'also stationary, whilst; the sun distinctly moves over and j above the earth, and .together with \ the moon causes the eclipses at ] various dates and localities. j As a rule there are two- eclipses of j the sun in each year and two of the i moon, and a very notable eclipse of j the sun occurred at the Friendly Islands on April 29th of''this year. That eclipse was not visible from any other station, and I easily jotted it ] down in pencil on the chart. It is j not very difficult to select the situa- ; tion for any eclipse always remembering that its position should show: the luminaries on the surface of the >' chart, and the direction of the eclipse; ', mostly north and south. Again, i within the last few days a most notable eclipse occurred' on October 22, and called an annular eclipse.

The word annular implies a ring eclipse caused by the moon nearly covering the sun, but having a fringe of sun's rays all round it. As reported, this eclipse did not bear out the term annular, but was in general a very partial eclipse, and the stations at which it is quoted as visible run from west to east, just the reverse of what would be caused by the rotation of a globe. For instance, the eclipse is quoted as visible at Bombay, then at Madras, Hong Kong, with Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne in Australia, and finally Wellington in New Zealand.

Thus this eclipse utterly disproves the rotation of the globe, and directly inculcates the motion of the sun itself, and the flat or extended earth as stationary. Thus the factor of rotation as a globe must be struck out, and the independent motion of the sun put in its place. Again, as the eclipse was visible both at Adelaide and Melbourne in Australia, it follows that the sun "-must have gone there and the moon also; and it is of great importance to notice that both Adelaide and Melbourne, as also Wellington, New Zealand, are much south of latitudes such as the globe and its rotation ever represent the sun to be in. Thus this eclipse, as others also, could hot v be caused by the rotation of the globe, but only by the independent movement of the sun over and above the earth.

Further, it is worthy of note that during September, and mostly in October also, the sun has been setting W.N.W., but as the date for this eclipse came on, the sun altered' and set W.S.W. instead; and this alteration shows the independent movement of the sun.