WHAT DID THEY SEE?

For several months reports have been floating round to the effect that in different parts of the province a luminous body resembling a balloon or air ship had been seen hovering over the earth at night. Two fishermen on the northern coast observed this strange visitor last July; it has been seen at Vancouver and Rossland, and now it transpires that the mysterious object has paid a visit to the Okanagan. Last Thursday night, about one o’clock, Messrs. Tilton and Nicholls. Two men employed at the Morning Glory Mine on Okanagan Lake, saw their strange sight.

They are both men of good repute, and there is no reason to doubt their word. They tell a very straight story and appear to be perfectly convinced that what they saw was an illuminated balloon of large dimensions and of oblong shape. They state that shortly after midnight they were startled by seeing a bright light approaching the lake from a northerly direction, and not very far distant from the ground. It slowly circled over an area of two or three miles for several hours, and about 3 a.m. disappeared towards the east. They also assert that they distinctly saw the figure of a man at intervals engaged apparently in firing up an engine, or working some electrical appliance, and that when he was engaged in this work a stream of bright sparks flowed continuously from the machine. As far as we can learn these two men were the sole witnesses of the uncanny looking object, but their unsupported testimony is sufficiently strong to convince those who have spoken to them on the subject, that they are telling a plain unvarnished tale. What was it they saw? Will some one come forward with an explanation?