if it was not a balloon, deserves the attention of our scientists.

In the file, I saw a memo DuBarry had written:

"I would take the very early reports with caution. For instance, the
one on August 9, 1762, which describes an odd, spindle-shaped body
traveling at high speed toward the sun. I recall that Charles Fort
accepted this, along with other early sightings, as evidence of space
ships. But this particular thing might have been a meteor--meteors as
such were almost unknown then. The later reports are more convincing,
and it is also easier to check the sources, especially those from 1870
on."

From 1762 to 1870, the reports were meager. Some described mysterious
lights in the sky; a few mentioned round objects seen in daylight.
Even though they were not so fully documented as later ones, one point
struck me. In those days, there was no telegraph, telephone, or radio
to spread news rapidly and start a flood of rumors. {p. 59} A sighting
in Scotland could not be the cause of a similar one two days later in
the south of France.

Beginning in 870, there was a series of reports that went on to the
turn of the century. In the London Times, September 26, 1870, there
was a description of a queer object that was seen crossing the moon.
It was reported as elliptical, with some kind of tail, and it took
almost thirty seconds to complete its passage of the moon. Then in
1871, a large, round body was sighted above Marseilles, France. This
was on August 1. It moved slowly across the sky, apparently at great
height, and was visible about fifteen minutes.