#phantom army

On this day:

SPECTER CITIES, SWORDS, AND SPIKES

On August 2, 1908, off the west coast of Ireland, a city hung suspended in the sky. Its houses displayed a diversity of styles, and it shone brilliantly for over three hours. In roughly the same vicinity, in 1840 and 1857, a sky island with crystal and pearl buildings, thought to be the mysterious city of the elusive fin folk, was seen from the Scottish Isle of Sanday. In 1881, a snow- and icicle-covered settlement, supposedly resembling an island village over a hundred miles away, was visible in Pomeranian skies. People could be seen moving about. In 1846, an apparition, suggested to be a projection of Edinburgh, hovered over the sky in Liverpool, England. In 1801, an aristocratic town, complete with shrub-ensconced mansions and backed by a forest, appeared over Cork, Ireland, where specters of a walled settlement had previously appeared in 1796 and 1797. The visions remained visible for thirty minutes. Specter cities have also been reported over the Bornholm Island in the Baltic, in Sweden, and in Ohio.

On August 2, 1888, a phantom army marched across the Croatian sky, their leader brandishing a flaming sword. Investigation ruled out the possibility of the apparition being a reflection of an actual event taking place in the area. In Ireland, 1797, armies of "fairies" trooped and battled over the bog near Maryborough at high noon.

On August 2, 1921, in West Germany, a nine-year-old boy and his uncle watched ball lightning the size of a watermelon come in through an open window, bounce across the floor, and then roll toward them, flashing green, red, yellow, and blue light. The surface of the ball became spiky, and the ball rolled across the stove, leaving a rut, before entering the air vent, where it exploded.

On this day:

PHANTOM FIGHTERS

On January 22, 1854, in Westphalia, Germany, fifty eyewitnesses watched a phantom army, composed of an infantry firing their flintlocks with powder flashing, a cavalry dressed in white uniforms, and numerous supply wagons, march over the landscape near their village and disappear in a densely thicketed forest. In the distance, two farmhouses had been set on fire and were being devoured by flames. Smoke hid the entire outfit from sight whenever it entered the woods. Local government officials collected testimonials from observers who agreed on the details of the spectacle, which vanished as the sun set. It was thought to be a vision of a previous battle that had taken place in the area.

In 1934, pilot Victor Goddard lost his bearings while flying over Scotland during rough weather. In order to get reoriented, he searched for the site of the abandoned airfield at Drem. What he saw, shining in the sun, was the aerodrome alive with bustling men in blue uniforms, and unknown monoplanes. Upon Goddard's return to Edinburgh he was ridiculed for his report of the activity at Drem. Four years later it would come to pass when the base was reopened as a training center.