Ep.11 The Mystery Airships of the 1800s

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter

Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Science

4.6 • 843 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Brief Encounters—where history’s strangest moments collide with the unexplained. The automobile is still a novelty. The Wright brothers haven’t yet flown. Electricity lights up only a few cities. Yet, across the skies of America, something impossible is happening: cigar-shaped airships, glowing lights, and metallic crafts flying silently through the night. Witnessed by thousands and described in hundreds of newspaper reports from California to Illinois to Texas, these sightings baffle the public. The military remains silent. And in at least one case, someone claims to have seen the pilot—and he wasn’t from around here.

Brief Encounters is a tightly produced, narrative podcast that dives headfirst into the world of UFO sightings, the paranormal, cryptids, myths, and unexplained legends. From ancient sky wars to modern close encounters, each episode takes listeners on a journey through some of the most mysterious and compelling cases in human history. Whether it's a well-documented military sighting or an eerie village legend whispered across generations, Brief Encounters delivers each story with atmosphere, depth, and cinematic storytelling. Episodes are short and binge-worthy — perfect for curious minds on the go. In just 5 to 10 minutes, listeners are pulled into carefully researched accounts that blend historical context, eyewitness testimony, and chilling details. The series moves between eras and continents, uncovering not only the famous cases you've heard of, but also the forgotten incidents that deserve a closer look. Each story is treated with respect, skepticism, and wonder — offering both seasoned enthusiasts and casual listeners something fresh to consider. Whether it’s a 15th-century sky battle over Europe, a cryptid sighting in a remote forest, or a modern-day abduction report from rural America, Brief Encounters is your guide through the shadows of our world — and the stories that refuse to be explained.

UFO Chronicles Podcast can be found on all podcast players and on the website: https://ufochroniclespodcast.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The mystery airships of the 1800s. The year is 1896. The automobile is still a novelty.
0:19.0	The Wright brothers haven't flown, electricity is lighting up only
0:23.4	a few cities, and yet across the skies of America, something impossible is happening. Cigar-shaped
0:31.8	airships, glowing lights, metallic crafts flying silently through the night,
0:38.9	witnessed by thousands, described in hundreds of newspaper reports,
0:44.3	from California to Illinois to Texas, the public is baffled, the military is silent.
0:51.9	And in at least one case, someone claims to have seen the pilot. And he
0:57.0	wasn't from around here. This is brief encounters. And you're listening to Episode 11,
1:03.0	The Mystery Airships of the 1800s. It started with a single report. On November 17th, 1896, in Sacramento, California,
1:13.6	hundreds of residents looked up and saw a brilliant light in the night sky. But this wasn't
1:20.6	a star or comet. Witnesses described a large, elongated object, like a huge cigar with a bright light on the front,
1:31.3	moving slowly and silently overhead. The local paper ran the story, then others followed.
1:37.7	By early December, San Francisco, Oakland, and Stockton had sightings too. Each described the same thing.
1:47.0	A metallic airship, often with wings, propellers, and sometimes even windows.
1:54.0	And this was five to seven years before the Wright brothers ever left the ground. The sightings
2:00.0	didn't stop with California. In April of 1897,
2:03.6	the wave hit the Midwest, hard. Over the course of just a few weeks, newspapers in Iowa, Kansas,
2:11.6	Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were flooded with reports. People claimed to see massive airships hovering at night,
2:20.3	often drifting slowly, sometimes darting away at impossible speed.
2:26.3	Some reports described beams of light shining down on fields.
2:31.3	Others claimed the ships made no sound at all, while some emitted a whirring
2:38.0	or humming noise. And then came the stories of encounters. Here's where it starts to feel like
	...

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