St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1865-02-09
THE METEORIU STRANGER.

On Saturday morning, ths 18th ult,,
just bcfrc sunrise, meteor was OBJ
served from different portions Of the
State, aud its arp.araece has given rise
t" much c'',jcc,nre. 4, St. Paul cor
Respondent VI the Press thus i scribes
it.:
o" Saturday morning y few minutes
before I'll, riSi"p "iAhr sun, pcrceiv
ed apparently u bull vt fire Of blush
cast about ten degrees above the hori-
zon und directly over the PLACE from
whcnce the sun roxc. few minutes la-
ter 1t appeared to be about the size
Of the full moon, and on first perceiv-
inS it, it appeared to be stationary, but
soon commenced to rise and as it rose
seemed to pass into sort of oscillating
or curviny motion back aud forth until
it reached eight # about tbirty.ive
degrees when it exploded exactly in ap.
pc"runce like that Of an immense sky
rocket. After the expulsion, I perceiv-
cd strenk Of smoke, starting from the
place where first perceived the ball,
and reaching to the place of its explo-
sion, aud this ,cmained in sight for
seven Or eight minutes.
The Pioneer says: .:.."
1t is described as a metcoric transit
across the east ~ northeast, just before
sunrise, ii luminous body, like CON-
ct, making al extensive track, and 40.
eompa"ied Ivy crash, resembling tho
breaking up Of the ice in the Nlissis-
sippi, aud followed by smoke which
lasted some time ,..... .+
The Red Wing .i,yns describes it
A bright ball If Gro, with an appa-
rent diameter Of four or five inches,
leaving behind it two parallel smoky
trails, five " six degrees long, and
about three times tho diameter Of the
meteor apart. Its flight was very rap
id. In less than a minute it had dis
appeared below the horizon at the
northwest. Just after its disappear
ance our informant thought he heard
an explosion like The bursting Of q
she !. ,'2
A correspondent at North6cld says :
When l FIRST saw it, it was about five
degrees above the horizon, directly over
where the sun rose about five to ten
minutes liter.
1t appeared much like Venus in her
brightest attire, but larger and of a
more white aud sparkling brightness
Its course seemed to be toward the
Northwest, rising ut m angle of about
40 degrees.
1ts speed was tremendous and ap-
pcared fully equal to the speed Of a
FIRST class rocket, as the observer stands
near it. 1t had bright and sparkling
train of bout Eve degrees in length.
When at an elevation Of say thirty
degrees from the earth. it burst, pre-
rcisely in appearance: like an ordinary
rocket, the parts falling vertically and
slowly toward the earth, sparkling as
they went, (a"d l belicve) tinscd with
blue and rose color.
From where it hurt, halt way to
where first saw it, was left u wcll-de.
fined track of suioke a shade lighter
color tina" the sky. This track remaia-
ed ut least ten minutes. =; = -
The above embrace the substance Of
the different dcstriptions-the main
difference being that some accompany
the bursting of the meteor with loud
report, while others make directly op-
positc assertion. 80.
This remarkable phenomenon was
also observed by one or two persons in
this city, by whom it is described in
somewhat the same words US the North.
fielA writer. $685.