OLD STORY RECALLED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20317, 27 January 1928, Page 13

OLD STORY RECALLED.

NEW ZEALAND’S “ AIRSHIP.” HAPPENINGS IN 1909. STRANGE SIGHTS IN THE SKY. The numerous statements by people who assert that they say the Aotea-roa or its lights recall what was popularly .knowu as -New Zealand’s airship “craze” or “ scare ” nearly 20 years ago (says the New Zealand Herald). T , iqoq It was toward the end of July, 1909, that reports were circulated from Otago and Southland of certain weird and mysterious lights that were . seen on clear winter nights in those regions. One report, from Stirling, stated that the lights were “ moving about in such a manner as to give the impression that in the nature of an airship manoeuvring among the hills.” Next came a story of school children and others at Kelso 100 miles from Dunedin, beholding in the air “a strange machine” which was described as “ shaped like a boat with what appeared to be the figure of a man seated in it.” The “airship, which evidently was of an obliging disposition, so far as the children were concerned, “ circled high over the school before it disappeared. An observer at Kaitangata gave quite i, circumstantial account of the mysterious visitor. Thus; “It moved about the hills above Kaitangata, sometimes swooping down from a height of apparently 2000 ft to about 1000 ft, and even lower. Then it would turn and make away toward the sea or would dip completely out of sight among the hills. It seemed to move witn as much ease, and even grace, as a bird on the wing.” Two dredge hands at Gore, who were early astir one morning, saw the “ airship ” about 5 a.m. It lowered through the mist and circled round the vicinity. Two figures were plainly discernible on board. The machine, which was “lighted at both ends,” manoeuvred.,and then “ shot upwards.” CANTERBURY BECOMES INFECTED. The lights also appeared at Invercargill, where, it was suggested, they were the lights of an airship that had been sent on a reconnoitring expedition by a German yacht, the Seestern. This yacht had been reported missing, having been seen or heard of at Brisbane. Perhaps it was thought that the “ airship ” had crossed the Tasman Sea, but no theories on this point were advanced. Of course Canterbury could not permit her sister province to have a monopoly of the excitement, so people in that district, particularly in South Canterbury, “ got the craze.” Residents of Timaru and surrounding districts came forward with circumstantial reports of 11 mysterious light in the sky.” Several said they saw “ something ” which they could not explain. Others, with a more fertile imagination, accounted for the lights by saying that they were those of an airship working from a base somewhere in the recesses of the Mackenzie Country. Needless to say, the airship could not manoeuvre without men. The latter were supplied by Dame Rumour. Men in airships naturally converse with one another, and when the story of merely seeing the ship and its lights became somewhat stale newspaper readers were regaled with accounts of mysterious “ conversations in a foreign language.” No successful attempts at a translation of the “ conversations ” appear to have been recorded. Either the eavesdroppers were not proficient linguists or the “ foreigners ” took good care to talk in some form of code.

BIRDS AND FLAMING TORCHES. There were, of course, attempts to account for the unusual happenings. The harbourmaster at Timaru, who said he had seen one of the lights, said it was nothing more than a ball of concentrated electricity known to sailors as a “ Jack-o’-lantern,” and frequently occurring in foggy weather. Another theory was that all that had been seen was the planet Mars, which was then in comparative proximity to the earth. Somebody in Otago hazarded the supposition that the lights were the ; product of a practical joker. He suggested that the joker had caught some seagulls, which had gone inland “to follow the plough,” and had attached to them a contrivance,” in the nature of a strong acetylene lamp. The lamps were li ,hted, and the birds released. What was more simple? This .specious explanation, of course, did not embrace the spectacle of an airship and conversations in a foreign tongue. The seagull theory met with a suggestion of support from a resident of Gisborne, who revealed a story of his juvenile davs in Otago, when, he said, considerable excitement was caused throughout the province by a strange light being being seen in the heavens. He said that scientific circles were considerably interested, but that no solution of the mystery was forthcoming. 'The “ phenomenon, ’ it was explained, was really a flaming torch suspended by some youths from a seabird by means of a length of cord. The perpetrators of the prank were so alarmed by the public attention directed to the “ strange light ” that they kept is origin a close secret. Before long the craze spread across the Otira to Westland as there is a mention in the records of mysterious lights ” being seen by passengers on a train between Greymouth and Hokitika. Nelson does not appear to have been wide enough awake to notice anything. SIGHTS IN AUCKLAND CITY. Then, of course, the inevitable happened. ’ The envious north became jealous, Aucklanders took a hand. While accounts of the lights in the south were still coming to hand, there came a report that some people in Newton road, while gazing over the steeple of St. Benedict’s Church, had seen a “ mysterious light hovering in the sky in the direction of East Tamaki.”, A similar observation was made a night or two later by some residents of Mount Roskill. Of course, it was the “ airship! ” . ~ A cruel correspondent of ‘‘ Mecutio, writing from the King Country, attempted to pour ridicule on the reports. In a paragraph that appeared in “ Local Gossip,” he said that on “ returning home late one night,” he saw the airship. It came down sufficiently low to enable him to distinguish a German crew with the Kaiser at the helm. For thp first time, the public were told, the nature ot the conversation, the observer evidently being an expert linguist. The “ All Highest ” was haranguing his crew on the subject of New Zealand’s native land policy! When the Kaiser saw the observer, he put his “ hand in frpnt of his nose in a certain attitude, and then the airship sailed away in the direction of Berlin ! ” This seems to have been the last that was seen of the “ mysterious visitor.” •