Sutherland Fire Ball September 7, 2017
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
***dedicated to Roberto***
This appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine under the title ‘A Southron in Sutherland’, Sutherland being a Scottish county. The year of publication was 1906: the year of the experience was 1882. An unusually vivid account of a fire ball of some kind. Note the way that it rises out of the road.
In the early days of our Sutherland sojournings we were staying in the inn of Kyle Sku Ferry. The two of us had been calling that afternoon at the house of the groat sheep-farmer above mentioned, the tenant of Glendhu. His house was on the opposite side of the ferry to the inn, and between it and the landing-place there intervened half a mile of perfectly flat well-made road, without bush or a hillock on either side of it, and running in places within twenty yards of the water’s edge. There was absolutely nothing either side of the road which could shelter a human being. We left the house before seven o’clock on a September evening. It was twilight, and a light misty rain was falling. We walked arm m arm, talking in lively fashion enough, when suddenly there rose out of the road between our feet a ball of fire about eight inches in diameter, of a bright orange colour, with curious internal rotatory movement within it, like a firework. It took us so much by surprise that we did not at once stop, but as walked on for a pace or two it moved with us, rising rapidly breast-high; then with one quick movement across from one to the other, it disappeared. It is not easy to describe our state of mind. Utter bewilderment and doubt of our own senses were our predominant feelings; and now, looking back upon the thing after all these years, it is hard to believe that we did see that sight. But we did see it—two sane, sound, and sober men as ever stepped. We went back and searched the road and the surrounding ground for traces of the thing. We found nothing. And from that day to this no one has ever found solution – though many know the story – of that marvellous appearance.
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Bruce writes, 29 Sep 2017: The Sutherland fireball as described, is the same color and behaved similarly to the one I saw at the age of 13. The one I saw descended slowly from the sky and was much larger, varying in size from a soccer ball to a beach ball. It weaved and waggled on it’s way down then did a slow roll along the street before going behind some trees into the school parking lot, followed by a moderately loud ‘boom’. Very odd. I consider myself quite lucky to have seen it. It’s too bad the plethora of security cameras around schools and cars equipped with sound activated alarms didn’t exist then, it likely would have been caught on camera.
