Balloon Expedition to the North Pole

Department of the Secretary of State of Canada

16-May-1896

UFO*BC NOTE:

In May of 1896, the Swedish Government informed Canada that they would be sending a balloon from Sweden heading to the North Pole in the early summer of 1896. This information was requested to be widely disseminated across Canada so that any sightings could be reported back to Sweden and any assistance could be given to the explorers if needed. However, due to poor weather, the departure was delayed until the following year. Eventually the balloon set sale on July 11, 1897, but crashed on the pack ice after only 2 days (nowhere near Canada). Strangely enough, many sightings that were assumed to be this balloon were reported in Canada and the US in 1896 and early 1987. For the full story of Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition see the Wikipedia account HERE.

PUBLIC Notice is hereby given that the Government of His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway purposes sending, in the summer of this current year, a balloon expedition to the North Pole for exploration in the interests of science. The balloon will convey a party of three Swedish scientists, namely, Salomon August Andrée, aged 42; Dr. Nils Gustaf Ekholm, aged 48; and Mr. Nils Stringberg, aged 24. It is understood that the expedition will start from Spitzbergen in the early summer.

The Swedish and Norwegian Minister at the Court of St. James having, in the name of his Government, invoked the assistance of Her Majesty's Government with a view to making it generally known in the British possessions adjacent to the Polar Basin that the expedition in question will be attempted, and the Swedish Government, being anxious also that the project should be made known to the authorities in other parts of Canada and to the general public in the Dominion through the medium of the press, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies has requested His Excellency's Government to do all in their power to meet the wishes of the Government of His Swedish-and-Norwegian Majesty in this matter.

Accordingly, Her Majesty's loyal subjects throughout this Dominion are hereby notified in the premises and are requested to give the explorers, should an opportunity present itself, all the help in their power. If the balloon be seen only and no communication be had with the exploring party, it is requested that the following particulars may be noted and communicated either to a local newspaper or to some learned body, namely, the day and the hour in which the balloon was seen, the direction of the balloon, and the direction of the wind.

Should any accident befall the explorers and should they arrive in any locality having lost the balloon, c. the inhabitants are asked to give them all possible assistance.

Dated at the office of the Secretary of State of Canada, this 16th day of May, 1896.

JOSEPH_POPE
 Under Secretary of State

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