~ UFO TRAILS A TROLLEY ~

Submitted by Ray Shoop

A strange sighting took place the evening of December 22, 1909, when supposed "airship inventor" Wallace J. Tillinghast was at his home in Worcester.

"Among those who got a good look at the ship as it swiftly speeded along was Motorman Gary Lane of the Boston & Worcester Street Railway. He saw it about 6:20 (p.m.) between Marlborough and Hudson as he was driving his (trolley) car, and the ship kept ahead of him all the way to Marlborough. The ship carried a bright light and attracted the attention of large crowds of people as it passed along."

After pacing Lane's streetcar to Marlborough, the UFO flew west toward Clinton. Halfway there, it suddenly veered southward and returned to Worcester. Since its first appearance over the city, word had spread, and now two thousand people stood on Main Street, hoping for a glimpse of the "airship."

The object "traveled from 800 to 1,000 feet above the earth, for a time passing up and down over the entire center of the city from east to west, and later describing circles nearly over City Hall. When the light appeared, there was a slight fall of snow, and the moon and the stars were not visible. These conditions remained the same up to about 9 o'clock when the light disappeared to the southwest."

Source:

Marlborough, Mass. Enterprise for December 23, 1909, page 1

Back to Memories visited