Abstract
THE following may perhaps be of interest to your readers. At about 6.50 P.M. on the night of Sunday the 14th inst., I was walking in a south-easterly direction through the village of Lower Tooting, when I suddenly saw fall from the sky what looked like a huge ball of green fire. What struck me especially was its size, its vivid colour, and also the strange noiselessness of its fall. It seemed to come from a part of the sky somewhere near where Jupiter was then visible, and to fall not a hundred yards from me. This, I fear, is the most accurate information I can give. It took me so completely by surprise that I rubbed my eyes and wondered whether I had not been dreaming, a supposition which seemed to be supported by the indifference displayed by the numerous passers-by in the face of so extraordinary a phenomenon. Indeed I should hardly have thought seriously of the matter again had I not heard of a letter in the Tim s last Monday, describing a very similar phenomenon observed at Brixton some twenty minutes later on the same evening. This and other reports of a like nature, which seemed to imply that the atmosphere was in a somewhat unusual condition, before and during last week's storm, led me to think it worth while to lay before you, and if it so pleases you, before the readers of NATURE, what I at any rate have a strong conviction that I saw on the night in question.
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M., G. Curious Phenomenon during the Late Gale. Nature 16, 551 (1877). https://doi.org/10.1038/016551c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/016551c0
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