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APRIL 21, 1909, KING'S LYNN, NORFOLK, U-K., FRED HARRISON:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

A farm laborer, Fred Harrison, who lived near the hamlet of Terrington Marsh, overlooking The Wash at King's Lynn in Norfolk, U-K., signed the following account, published in the Daily Express of London for May 14, 1909, describing what he saw in the sky on April 21, 1909:

"I was outside New Common Marsh Farm about a quarter to ten at night when I saw the airship. I heard a whirring noise overhead, and when I looked up I saw the fields round were lit up by a bright light. I was startled and wondered whatever it could be. Then I saw that the light came from a long, dark airship which was travelling swiftly overhead. It was low down - only a little way above the trees - so I could see it plainly. It seemed to be eighty or a hundred feet long, and I could distinguish two men on a kind of hanging platform below. The searchlight lit up the road, the farm buildings, the trees and everything it touched, so that it was like day. I could even read the printing on some bills on the wall. The airship passed right over New Common Marsh Farm, and went in the direction of Hunstanton, on the other side of the Wash. It was travelling very fast against the wind, and it was out of sighting in a few minutes."

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. st1:] "THE STANDARD" NEWSPAPER:

The newspaper published an article on the mysterious airship seen in U-K., at the time, and included a list of sighting reports; in which there is an entry about a sighting in King's Lynn, about May 7, 1909, by "two labourers".

[Ref. dc1:] DAVID CLARKE:

David Clarke indicates there was a clear statement from a farm-labourer, Fred Harrison, who lived near the hamlet of Terrington Marsh, overlooking The Wash at King's Lynn in Norfolk.

He signed the following account, published in the Daily Express of London for May 14, 1909, describing what he saw in the sky on 21 April 1909:

"I was outside New Common Marsh Farm about a quarter to ten at night when I saw the airship. I heard a whirring noise overhead, and when I looked up I saw the fields round were lit up by a bright light. I was startled and wondered whatever it could be. Then I saw that the light came from a long, dark airship which was travelling swiftly overhead. It was low down - only a little way above the trees - so I could see it plainly. It seemed to be eighty or a hundred feet long, and I could distinguish two men on a kind of hanging platform below. The searchlight lit up the road, the farm buildings, the trees and everything it touched, so that it was like day. I could even read the printing on some bills on the wall. The airship passed right over New Common Marsh Farm, and went in the direction of Hunstanton, on the other side of the Wash. It was travelling very fast against the wind, and it was out of sighting in a few minutes."

[Ref. bh1:] BRETT HOLMAN:

Brett Holman indicates that in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England, on the uncertain date of May 7, 1909, two labourers encountered an airship.

The source is indicated as the Standard, May 17, 1909, page 9.

[Ref. ri1:] PHILIP RIFE:

The author indicates that less than a month after March 1909 a farmhand described his encounter in the Norfolk countryside:

"I heard a whirring noise overhead, and when I looked up, I saw the fields round were lit up by a bright light. I was startled, and wondered whatever it could be."

"Then I saw that the light came from a long, dark airship which was traveling swiftly overhead. It was low down-only a little way above the trees - so I could see it plainly. It seemed to be 80 or 100 feet long, and I could distinguish two men on a kind of hanging platform below."

"The searchlight lit up the road, the farm buildings, the trees and everything it touched, so that it was like day. I could even read the printing on some bills on the wall. It was traveling very fast against the wind, and it was out of sight in a few minutes."

The source is indicated as The Daily Express, London, April 21, 1909.

[Ref. js1:] JEAN SIDER:

Jean Sider indicates that on April 20, 1909, near Norfolk, England, there was a CE3 whose date is not certain, given in relation to the date of the original source containing the testimony of a witness:

"I heard a humming noise, and I saw that the near fields were illuminated by a bright light. I could not believe it and I wondered what it could be."

"Then I noticed that the light came from a long, dark airship moved strongly into the air above me. It was at a very low altitude, just above the trees, so I could perfectly see it. It seemed of eighty to one hundred feet long, and I was able to distinguish two men on a sort of platform below."

"A spotlight illuminated the road, the farm buildings, the trees and everything its beam touched, which is why one could see as in plain daylight. I was even able to read the words printed on posters on a wall."

"The apparatus was going very fast against the wind and it was lost of sight very quickly."

Jean Sider indicates that the source is "Rife, citing The Daily Express, London, 21 April 1909".

[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on 13 May 1909 at 21:45 in King'S Lynn, UK, "Several independent witnesses of brightly illuminated, long, dark airship, 80-100 feet long. two men visible in some sort of carriage underneath. The searchlight lit up the road. Object travelled fast."

And: "An object was observed. Occupants of the craft were seen. One object, about 150 feet across, was observed. A whirring sound was heard. Two humanoids were seen."

The source are indicated as "Hall, Richard H., From Airships to Arnold: A Preliminary Catalogue of UFO Reports in the Early 20th Century (1900-1946), UFO Research Coalition, Fairfax, 2000, ISBN:1-928957-01-3", "Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002."

Points to consider:

The 1909 "airship" sightings in U-K. were considered to be "UFOs" by some authors and researchers, and considered to be mostly hoaxes and imagination by others. Most of them dismiss that people saw real airships, arguing that the German airship could not have reached England in 1909.

The Germans flew airship in 1909 but commercial flights started only one year later, so it it indeed improbable that people saw German airships.

However, the British had airships too, military airship, such as the Nulli Secundus (Picture below) and they did fly in 1909.

Left: the Nulli Secundus airship. "...I saw the airship. I heard a whirring noise overhead ... I could distinguish two men on a kind of hanging platform below", the witness said.

So, there is a definite possibility that the farm laborer in this case saw exactly what he described, an airship. A hoax is of course not excluded.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Possible British airship.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [---] ? Article in the newspaper Daily Express, London, U-K., May 14, 1909.
• [st1] * Article in the newspaper The Standard, U-K., page 7, May 17, 1909.
• [dc1] * "Scareships over Britain - The Airship Wave of 1909", article by Dr David Clarke, U-K., in Fortean Studies, #6, 1999.
• [---] ? "*U* Computer Database", compiled by Larry Hatch, USA, circa 2002.
• [---] ? "From Airships to Arnold: A Preliminary Catalogue of UFO Reports in the Early 20th Century (1900-1946)", by Richard Hall, UFO Research Coalition, USA, 2000.
• [pr1] * "It Didn't Start With Roswell: 50 Years of Amazing Ufo Crashes", book by Philip L. Rife, Writers Club Press publishers, USA, pp 71-72, 2001.
• [bh1] * "scareships - The British phantom airship scares, 1909-1913", blog by Brett Holman, circa 2009, at airminded.org/scareships/category/location/england/norfolk/kings-lynn
• [ud1] * "3 May 1909 - King'S Lynn, UK", web page by the UFOdna website, circa 2009, at thecid.com/ufo/uf13/uf7/137651.htm
• [js1] * "Les Extraterrestres avant les Soucoupes Volantes", book by Jean Sider, JMG publisher, France, page 177, 2007.

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This page was last updated on August 18, 2013