This article was published in the daily newspaper The Courier-Herald, Saginaw, Michigan, Saturday, April 17, 1897.
Warning: the airship stories must not be taken at face value as "UFO sightings." Evaluation of such stories is under way here.
Seems to be more than a Vision of the Night
Seen at Different Points Throughout the State As Well as in other Parts of the Country
Additional particulars of the visit of the mysterious airship to this part of the country were received yesterday. The ship approached from the southwest and after passing over both Saginaw and Bay City appeared to sink almost to earth in the vicinity of Essexville. This was about 12:30. The ship moved with great speed when on its voyage north, but slowed as it approached Bay City.
Just before 2 o'clock yesterday morning the uncanny visitor was seen returning to the southeast. Roundsman Halsey and Officer Foley, who were on Potter St., near the city depot, at the time, first noticed it as it approached the city from the north. They were attracted by the whirring noise which increased rapidly in volume and looking up into the sky they beheld a long cigar shaped vessel sailing through the air. It was not very high above the earth and there was a light aboard that illuminated the whole vessel.
The noise which they heard resembled that made by a snare drum being played rapidly, and was evidently caused by the movement of machinery aboard the airship. It was going in a southeasterly direction and passed so quickly out of sight that a good description could not be obtained. From the lower side, however, a long basket-shaped object hung down, apparently a boat to be used in case the ship settled down over a body of water.
Reports are coming from all over the country which indicate that there must certainly be some truth in the many stories that are being told of the airship. One is to the effect that it is owned by Ringling Bros.' Circus and is being used as an advertising scheme. That there is some strange object floating about the country is beyond a doubt, but it is no one has been able to ascertain. The following dispatches [Here] from various parts of the country show that the airship has traveled over a great deal of territory in the past few days.
Corroboration of the visit of the flying airship to this city yesterday morning has been received from many sources. Among those who vouch for its appearance is V. A. Goddard, who witnessed its flight northward at about midnight, in company with A. W. Field. The night was cloudy and therefore they were unable to see the ship plainly but they distinctly heard the humming noise, which they describe as resembling the noise of an electric dynamo. There were three lights visible, one at either end and one suspended above the vessel, apparently on a mast. The forward light was white and the others were red, It was impossible to tell anything as to its size or shape of the vessel from the view obtained by these gentlemen.
