Science, 5-242, reports that on Feb. 24, 1885, the Innerwich was somewhere between Yokohama and Victoria. The captain was roused at midnight by his mate, who had seen “something unusual in the sky.” He went on deck and saw “the sky turning fiery red. ‘All at once, a large mass of fire appeared over the vessel, completely blinding the spectators.’” Then it fell into the sea, casting up enough water to cause a “deafening” noise. “The bark was struck flat aback, and a ‘roaring, white sea passed ahead.’”
The object was also described in Nature, 37-187, and L’Astronomie, 1887-76, as ‘a large ball of fire’ that rose out of the sea about fifty feet, came near the ship, then moved away, visible for about five minutes. While Nature concluded it was ball lightning, Flammarion, on p. 68 of Thunder and Lightning, says ‘that it was enormous.’
In writing of this datum, Fort says, “it’s from the puritanic publication, Science, which has yielded us little material, or which, like most puritans, does not go upon a spree very often.”
–Charles Fort, The Book of the Damned, p.273 (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).
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