A PHENOMENON | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 29, 1872

A PHENOMENON.

“The Albany Times has the following account of what it justly calls a phenomenon: ‘It was seen on Wednesday [Aug. 28], about six miles from Albany, beyond the old McKown woods. During the storm which prevailed, a cloud, funnel-shaped, descended from the heavens, extending apparently from the clouds to the ground. The tail was near the ground, and within this peculiar shaped mass, smoke and fire were seen to prevail to a degree which caused general alarm among the residents in that locality, being impressed with the idea that Plantamour’s comet had been delayed and come at last. The funnel-shaped mass would separate, occasionally, when the flame was plainly visible. This continued ten minutes, and was witnessed by a number of persons, all of whom agree as to the circumstances referred to. After the funnel-shaped cloud had disappeared, it was discovered that the corn and other produce on the farms in the locality where the tail of the funnel apparently rested, were all burned off even with the surface of the earth. By this, a great deal of property was destroyed, and no little alarm occasioned. What produced the phenomenon is more than any one in that locality could determine, and it would be well if some scientific gentleman could make an investigation and report the result.’”