The London Evening Star claimed that two London men turned up at the newspaper's office on the evening of Friday, May 14, 1909. The article said that "The story of Messrs Graham and Bond is the most wonderful" their journalist heard "since he read Jules Verne's 'Clipper of the Clouds' (and believed it) at school."
The newspaper claims the two men stated "with every evidence of conviction" that they were returning from Teddington to Richmond, in southwest London, after 11 p.m. on the previous night, when they saw a landed "aircraft" on Ham Common.
Mr Graham is quoted:
"We were near the middle of the common on a fairly open space 150 yards from the road and I said to my friend Mr Bond, 'sit down a minute, I find I have a stone in my shoe.' We sat down on the grass and I suddenly heard a soft buzzing noise behind me. I thought it was a motorcar in the distance, and I could not understand it. Then suddenly I saw it creeping along the surface of the grass. I said 'What is that an airship or what?' I could see the shape dimly. I am not an artist, but it looked like a collection of big cigar-boxes with the ends out. It must have been 200 or 250 ft long. There were two men on the aeroplane. The first man, who was near the forepart seemed to be in a sort of steelwire cage and had a row of handles in front of him, like the handles of a beer-engine, only thinner. The moment they saw us this first man, who was clean shaven and looked like a Yankee, turned the searchlight right round on us, and there he was doing this over and over again, blinding us with the glare, evidently so that we could not see too much of the shape of the airship. The second man, who stood in the middle of the airship, looked like a German, and was smoking a calabash pipe. They were on the ground quite close to us, and I went up to them. The German spoke first. He said: 'I am - sorry - have - you - any- tobacco?' "I just happened to have an ounce or so in my pouch, and I gave it to him, saying: 'Help yourself, here is the pouch.'" "He said: 'Will you accept payment for it?' I said 'Certainly not'. He said: 'Will you accept a pipe for it?' and I said I would. He gave me the pipe and here it is."
A reporter from the Evening Star later discovered the pipe was manufactured in Austria but was available from any Fleet Street tobacconist.
Bond added: "The German gentleman had a cap and a beard and a map in front of him. It was fastened on a board and there were red discs on it, as though they had been stuck in the map with pins. The airship was showing no light when it descended. They simply switched the searchlight right on and saw us. They came right down on us. He was quite surprised to see us as we were to see him. They never had dreamt we would be sitting there. The man at the searchlight was a tall, clean-shaven fellow in a blue serge-suit. The other man had a fur-lined overcoat and a soft hat they call at Trilby."
Graham drew a sketch of the "airship" he saw for the newspaper, that showed three propellers at the stern and a big swinging searchlight at the bow. The skectch is apparently published nowhere now.
Graham said "parts of the airship appeared to be made of some light-coloured metal - aluminium, I think it must have been." "It was nothing like a balloon, it was a pure aeroplane. There seemed to be some steel rods which stuck out and kept the airship upright and the propellers off the ground. The German leaned over the wire-railing to talk to me, and I had to reach up to give him the tobacco, We saw the tall man pull one of the lever down, and then he switched the light off. The aeroplane went without either of the men saying goodbye. It disappeared in ten seconds, and was gone before we could see where it had gone to. It was a very dark night and the common was empty. If they had known we were there they would not have come down."
|
|
[Ref. dc1:] DR DAVID CLARK:
David Clark says a report from the London Evening Star was about two city men who turned up at the newspaper's office on the evening of Friday 14 May 1909. The article said that "The story of Messrs Graham and Bond is the most wonderful our man has heard since he read Jules Verne's 'Clipper of the Clouds' (and believed it) at school."
The men stated "with every evidence of conviction" that they were returning from Teddington to Richmond, in southwest London, after 11 p.m. on the previous night when they saw a landed aircraft on Ham Common.
Mr Graham said: "We were near the middle of the common on a fairly open space 150 yards from the road and I said to my friend Mr Bond, 'sit down a minute, I find I have a stone in my shoe.' We sat down on the grass and I suddenly heard a soft buzzing noise behind me. I thought it was a motorcar in the distance, and I could not understand it. Then suddenly I saw it creeping along the surface of the grass. I said 'What is that an airship or what?' I could see the shape dimly. I am not an artist, but it looked like a collection of big cigar-boxes with the ends out. It must have been 200 or 250 ft long. There were two men on the aeroplane. The first man, who was near the forepart seemed to be in a sort of steelwire cage and had a row of handles in front of him, like the handles of a beer-engine, only thinner. The moment they saw us this first man, who was clean shaven and looked like a Yankee, turned the searchlight right round on us, and there he was doing this over and over again, blinding us with the glare, evidently so that we could not see too much of the shape of the airship. The second man, who stood in the middle of the airship, looked like a German, and was smoking a calabash pipe. They were on the ground quite close to us, and I went up to them. The German spoke first. He said: 'I am - sorry - have - you - any- tobacco?' "I just happened to have an ounce or so in my pouch, and I gave it to him, saying: 'Help yourself, here is the pouch.'" "He said: 'Will you accept payment for it?' I said 'Certainly not'. He said: 'Will you accept a pipe for it?' and I said I would. He gave me the pipe and here it is."
A reporter from the Evening Star later discovered the pipe was manufactured in Austria but was available from any Fleet Street tobacconist.
Bond added: "The German gentleman had a cap and a beard and a map in front of him. It was fastened on a board and there were red discs on it, as though they had been stuck in the map with pins. The airship was showing no light when it descended. They simply switched the searchlight right on and saw us. They came right down on us. He was quite surprised to see us as we were to see him. They never had dreamt we would be sitting there. The man at the searchlight was a tall, clean-shaven fellow in a blue serge-suit. The other man had a fur-lined overcoat and a soft hat they call at Trilby."
Mr Graham drew a sketch of the "airship" he saw for the newspaper, that showed three propellers at the stern and a big swinging searchlight at the bow.
Graham said "parts of the airship appeared to be made of some light-coloured metal - aluminium, I think it must have been." "It was nothing like a balloon, it was a pure aeroplane. There seemed to be some steel rods which stuck out and kept the airship upright and the propellers off the ground. The German leaned over the wire-railing to talk to me, and I had to reach up to give him the tobacco, We saw the tall man pull one of the lever down, and then he switched the light off. The aeroplane went without either of the men saying goodbye. It disappeared in ten seconds, and was gone before we could see where it had gone to. It was a very dark night and the common was empty. If they had known we were there they would not have come down."
David Clarke indicates the source as Evening Star, of London, for May 14 and 15, 1909.
[Ref. np1:] NICK POPE:
Nick Pope indicates that on 13 May 1909, in the night two men claimed to have seen a landed airship on Ham Common in London and spoken to the two crewmen, who they said were German and American. The German asked for some tobacco for his pipe and the two witnesses reported having been blinded by a searchlight during some of the sighting.
[Ref. nw1:] NIGEL WATSON:
|
The two men were walking on Ham Common, London, on the night of 13 May, when they heard a buzzing sound and saw a 200-ft long airship on the ground in front of them. The occupants of the craft were a Yankee who kept shining a searchlight at them, and a German who asked for some tobacco for his pipe. According to their report, ‘The German gentleman had a cap and a beard and a map in front of him. It was fastened on a board and there were red discs on it, as though they had been stuck in the maps with pins.’ Once the German was given some tobacco the ship left within ten seconds. (27, 28) In the manner this report was written it suggests it was a hoax, though it does seem reasonable to most of us that the crew of airships or flying saucers would require maps despite Vallée’s objections. |
The sources are indicated as "27 "London Star, 15 May 1909", and "28. David Clarke, "The scare in the air", in Nigel Watson (ed.), The Scareship Mystery, Domra, Corby, 2000, 21-22".
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates that in London, England, on May 18, 1909, at night, "Two reported coming upon a strange craft in a city park. They were walking along a fair way when they heard a soft buzzing sound behind them. Then they suddenly saw creeping along the surface of the grass a dimly lit shape resembling a collection of big cigar boxes with the ends cut out. It must have been 200 to 250 feet long. They saw two men on the 'airship.' The first man, who was near the fore part, seemed to be in a sort of steel wire cage, and had a row of handles in front of him. The moment they saw the witnesses, this first man, who was clean-shaven and looked like a 'Yankee' tuned a searchlight on the witnesses, blinding them with the glare. The second man, who stood in the middle of the airship looked like a German, and was smoking a calabash pipe. They were on the ground very close to the witnesses and one of the witnesses went up to them. The German like occupant spoke first, 'I am sorry, have you tobacco?' The witness gave the stranger tobacco and he was given a pipe in return. The 'German' had a cap and a beard, and a map in front of him. It was fastened on a board, and there were red discs on it, as though they had been stuck in the map with pins. The man at the searchlight was tall with a blue serge suit. The other man wore a fur-lined overcoat and a soft hat. Parts of the airship appeared to be made of some light colored metal-aluminum. There seemed to be some steel rods, which stuck out and kept the airship upright and the propellers off the ground. The airship left without either of the men saying goodbye. It disappeared in 10 seconds, and was gone before the witnesses could see where it had gone."
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "Phillip L Rife, In It Didn’t Start With Roswell".
[Ref. js1:] JEAN SIDER:
Jean Sider indicates that on May 12, 1909, in the evening, close to London, England, there was a CE3 reported by a long anonymous letter, with suspicious content, sent to a newspaper of London which reproduced it entirely.
He indicates that two friends wandered in the park of an unidentified city, and saw an "airplane" come by and land not far from them.
It was in the shape of a cigar cut at the two ends, with an enormous projector. Two occupants came out of it and went to meet the two men. One had the looks of an American and the other of a German. The German had a pipe and asked for tobacco to one of the witnesses. Having obtained it he offered his pipe in exchange.
During this time, the other aeronaut consulted charts. Then the two occupants regained their apparatus, one of them pushed a lever and the machine took off and was lost from sight in ten seconds.
Jean Sider indicates that the source is "Rife, pp. 72-73, according to The Evening Star, London, May 14, 1909".
He comments on that the case is not quoted by the Flying Saucer Review which had however reported the mini-flap of airships of 1909 in Great Britain, in particular in their volume XVI, n° 6, where this case should have appeared. He adds that "Rosales dates the incident at May 18", which is impossible as the original source is dated of the 14th of the same month. He adds that the behavior of the man with the pipe "evokes a joke made at the expense of the newspaper, which explains our doubts."
[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
|
May 13 1909 HAM COMMON (RICHMOND, SURREY: ENGLAND) Messers Bond and Graham were walking toward the common when they heard a soft buzzing sound. They turned, and saw close to the ground, an "airship" which resembled a collection of large cigar boxes about 60-70m long, and which carried three propellers. In a sort of steel wire cage were two occupants, one of whom was clean shaven and reminded them of an American, the other smoking a calabash pipe they took to be a German. The "American" swung a searchlight at them several times, dazzling them with its glare. They approached the landed object, and the "German" who was bearded , wore a cap and a had a map fastened to a board in front of him, on which red disks were fastened asked for tobacco. Mr Graham gave him some. In front of the occupants were some levers which resembled thin beer handles. When one of the occupants pulled one of these levers down, the lights went off and the craft took off, disappearing into the darkness in 10 seconds Nigel Watson in Common Ground no 3, p.20 citing Irish News 17 May 1909 |
[Ref. jb1:] JEROME BEAU:
|
In 1903, at Ham Common (London), witnesses see an airship with lights at the front and at the back. They describe the pilots as being "one Yankee and one German". |
Ham is now a part of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London.
The state of British aviation in 1909, the kind of airship and planes that were operational, make this story a pure hoax. No airship or plane would be gone in 10 seconds, no plane would land with two persons on board in the night, no British airship would carry a "Yankee" and a "German".
On october 1908, Griffith Brewer became the first Briton to fly as a passenger in an aeroplane, when Wilbur Wright took him flying at Le Mans in France. On April 30, 1909, J.T.C. Moore Brabazon, later Lord Brabazon of Tara, made the first accredited aeroplane flight by an Englishman in England, on a French Voisin biplane, on a distance of about 137 metres, at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey.
According to the story, the craft is sometimes a kind of plane, sometimes a kind of airship, but is not a good description of a plane nor a good description of an airship. In fact, the description is full of contradictions, vague, poorly concocted with the convenient excuse of not having clearly seen it because of the blinding projector light.
The story is almost certainly a hoax, the question that remains is whether it was made up be real "Mr. Graham" and "Mr Bond", of by the journalist, or by the newspaper.
Only those ufologists who believe that hoaxes are not hoaxes but rather aliens or some "otherwordly intelligence" disguized in normal people flying aircraft and asking for tobacco can see it fit to put this story in their casebook...
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | ||||||||
Probable hoax.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 19, 2013 | Creation, [dc1], [np1], [nw1], [ar1], [js1], [pr1], [jb1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | August 19, 2013 | First published. |
