Gravel River Air Ship

This article from The Hamilton Spectator, dated September 14, 1897, reports on a series of sightings of an unidentified aerial object, described as an 'air ship,' crossing the North American continent. The report references earlier sightings in Vancouver and Manitoba before detailing a specific encounter on August 16, 1897, near Gravel River. C. W. Spencer, a superintendent for the Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R.), and his assistant, Thos. Hay, observed the object while traveling on a train from Port Arthur to Sudbury. They described the object as having a dark body illuminated by a large white light, a red light, and a row of lights that shifted to a blue color as the object maneuvered. The witnesses estimated the object was approximately half a mile above the earth and moving at about 30 miles per hour. The article speculates that an inventor may have been testing a new form of air navigation in secret, noting that if the object seen at Gravel River was the same as the one reported in Vancouver, it would have traveled 2,100 miles at a rate of 700 miles per day. The author concludes by suggesting that if the inventor has not met with disaster in the wilderness, the achievement of air navigation on Canadian territory would soon be confirmed.