October 25, 2015
Spectacular Meteor Shower: Nov 13, 1833
Wednesday, November 13th 2013
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Perhaps it’s time to remember these important signs! Matthew 24:29 - Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: Matthew 24:30 - And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. |
Possibly the most spectacular meteor shower in history was observed at various points across the United States including Upper Michigan during the early morning of November 13, 1833. At Mackinac Island, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft described the phenomenon as “radiating balls, streams of fire or falling stars from the zenith into the lake.”
On the east coast, “those who were up at four saw the grandest site.” There were three distinct lights in the night sky besides the usual array of stars. There were “shooting points of light” that emanated from a center point and cascaded to the horizon, “resembling a thick shower of luminous snow.” Then there were “luminous bodies which hung dimly in the air.” Finally, the most spectacular sight was the “falling fireballs, some which burst, while others went out of sight.” They were so bright that even the smallest object could be seen as the meteors lit the night sky. One of the fireballs was reportedly larger than the moon; another was “like a serpent coiling itself up,” while others resembled “square tables” or “pruning hooks.” The ones that burst left “trains of light behind them, some tinged with prismatic colors.”
Schoolcraft’s brother-in-law, William Johnston, was in northern Minnesota ‘on the sources of the Mississippi’ at the time and concurred that the event was nothing short of wonderful. ‘The weather,’ Johnston wrote, ‘is still very pleasant, with very little frost at night. About two or three in the morning one of the men came and awoke me. ‘Come and see a strange sight,’ he said. We went to the door, where we saw every now and then, stars shooting or falling. The center from whence they first appeared to the eye was, to us, nearly in a direct line above our heads ‘from whence they went in all directions, to all points of the compass.’ He related that he and his companion went into the house, sat down and smoked their pipes, shaking their heads in astonishment at what they had seen.
Click on Link:
http://uppermichiganssource.com/archive/spectacular-meteor-shower-nov-13-1833?id=971083
