Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-11-26
A mErE)Rlc SHOWER
Possible Explanation ~ the Rcd Light
Seen in the Sky At;er sunset An
Interesting Record

y remarkable observation was made
recently by Prof. Brooks, an indus
! trious astronomer of western New
/ York. While searching with his tele-
scope for comets he saw what he de
scrbes as a shower of telescope me-
/ .teors NEAR the sun This, of course,
means that they were near the appar-
/ tent place of the sun in the sky, and
snot literally near to that body, for the
isun had already set at the time, and if
iwhat Prof. Brooks saw was really a
meteor swarm, the meteors must have
ibeen in the upper regions of our atmos-
,phere. Supposed flights of meteors
seen through telescopes have occa-
,Sionally turned out to be ilocks of
.blrds. but an observer rs careful and
! experienced as Prof. Brooks would
mot be likely to make such a mistake
!as that. Assuming, then. that he re-
ally did see an extraordinary storm of
meteors, and remembering that me-
teors large enough to be visible with
out telescopes, and some of great size
and brilliancy, have been unusually
numerous the suggestion that the red
| light seen in the sky after sunset may
be caused by reflection from clouds OF
meteoric dust IN the upper portion of
| the atmosphere is not unnatural.
There are several reasons for thinking
that the strange light is the result of
some such cause rs the presence of
meteoric dust rather than of differ
ences of density in the atmosphere
leading to extraordinary reflection. In
the first place, the phenomenon has
not only been visible over an immense
extent Of territory, but il has lasted
several days, and has been in the east
before sunrise as well as in the west
after sunset, SO that any abnormal re-
fraction in the atmosphere would have
To be of almost incredible persistence in
order to account for the observed APP
pcaranccs. Besides, during this time
there have been considerable atmos-
pheric changes, especially in respect
To temperature. These remarkable
sunset displays have also been accom-
panied by notably hazy appearance
of the sky. 1t is well known the earth
is daily and nightly visited with mil
lions of meteors, the vast mojOrity of
which are almost instantly consumed
bv the intense heat developed as they
dash into our atmosphere The prod
ucts of the combustion of these me
teors filter slowly through the AR, and
have been found in the shape of me
talliG dust on the Snow-iields in the
Arctic regions, on mountain peaks IN
Europe. and IN other localities. being
recognized by their peculiar chemical
composition. 1t is also well known
that the polar system abound, with
! swarms of mete0rs revolving around
the sun. and that the earth crosses the
path of a number of these occasional
" cncountering the swarms themsel-
YES. The vast majority Of these me-
teors are very small, those that are
seen weighing on an average probably
only few grains; and since the tclc.
scope reveals millions which escape
the naked eye it Is reasonable To con
clude that millions more are too
small to be seen even with the telc-
scopes mere rhetoric dust. There
are historic instances OF supposed falls
of metoric dust, the most remarkable,
/ perhaps. being that of 1875, VIXEN Eu-
rope, part of Asia and part of North
America were covered for months
! with dry fog, or haze which excited
Z the greatest alarm, Prof. Brooks
suggestion that the earth has encoun-
| tered a cloud of metorjc dust is not,
! therefore, without foundation in pro.
liability If the blazing sunsets of
! 1884 have really resulted from such
cause, they are likely To continue. in
modified form for some time, gradual
! " disappearing as the dust sinks lower
/ in the atmosphere. But. although so
many reasons can be advanced which
/ give probability TO the theory that
! meteoric dust is concerned in the pro
! duction of these strange sunset effects,
/ vet il can not be considered as proved,
and some better explanation may be
fiered Whatever the true explana-
! ton may turn out TO be, however,
every body seems to agree in the opin-
ion that the red glare in the west has
been one OF the most singular specta-
cles beheld in the sky for many
years.
II, about two hundred years ago, a
witness had stated that he had seen
witch at midnight riding through the
| air on broomstick, he would have
been believed, but il he had stated
that be had heard loud explosion,
and found "A large hole in the ground,
and, upon thrusting his hand in, had
found large stone, which was warm.
his veracity would have been doubted.
Meteors must have fallen in oldcn
times, but it is only in later days that
these cases have been reported. I'm
til 1894 it was the belief that meteors
were visitations from God. A Danish
astronomer was the first to write on
the subject. Pallas found meteor,
(which he examined. and recognized
Its true character, being composition
of metal and nickel. In 1888 IA large
shower fell in Normandy. which was
of meteorlc origin. A Hindoo claimed
that meteor followed him for two
hours before it fell to the earth. The
most celebrated one fell in 1892 in
Alsace, and it has hung for three cent.
uries in cathedral. 1t weighed 230
pounds, and fell with clap of thun-
der. 1t penetrated the earth six feet.
The best-known meteor is one of 1874,
which fell IN Wolverhampton, Eng
land. a farmer saw IA hole in the
ground. and an examination showed