Phantom Airship
The elusive airship which has mystified people in many parts of the country for some weeks past provided a further plentiful crop of stories by eye-witnesses yesterday. Reports of the appareance of the usual "sausage-shaped" monster, with searchlights and all the other appartenances, were received from:?
| Norwich. | Ipswich. |
| West Green. | Pontypool. |
| Southend. | Monmouth. |
| Birmingham. | Herne Bay. |
In every one of the cases indicated the evidence was to the effect that the mysterious visitor had been seen at night within the past fortnight.
In the meantime the "Daily Express" provides to-day a possible solution of the puzzle. It publishes a statement made by Mr. Percival Spencer, the well-known aeronaut, who states that the perfect clould of small airships which has been infesting the heavens for the past ten days can only be accounted for by the supposition that some enterprising firm in search of a colossal advertisement has been purchasing large quantities of his Spencer's model airships.
These model airships are 25ft. in length, and are lifted by the rarefied air with which they are inflated, being heated by the flame of a spirit lamp. This flame would account for the fact that all the witnesses who declare that they have seen airships in the sky at night state that the aircraft carried powerful lights. It is impossible to tell at night whether an airship is 50 ft. or 500ft. above the surface of the earth. Thus, a small model airship, traveling through the night at a low altitude, light appear to unaccustomed eyes to be of enormous proportions.
Mr. Spencer admitted that he had quite recently disposed of great numbers of these 25ft. long airships, which are made on the same model as the larger man-lifting airships. Two of these he can still trace. One was sold to a firm of manufacturers whose headquarters are in the Eastern Counties, while the other was disposed of to a gentleman living in Cardiff. Mr. Spencer said that by reference to his books, and by inquiries, he could probably trace the other three. In his recollection of the transaction, the airships were disposed of to inventors and experimenters, who were largely prompted to make the purchases from a spirit of sport. For £250 Mr. Spencer will sell to any one who requires it an elongated, or, as it has been described, sausage-shaped, gas-bag, with a car suspended beneath. These airships are able to lift two men, plus a considerable amount of ballast or cargo.