In Episode 432, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll the streets of downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, to see the epicenter of a profound UFO sighting that took place just before the Christmas holiday of 1909. A strange light circled the city and was witnessed by thousands. What could this strange craft have been?
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[CITY STREET NOISES]
RAY: Downtown Worcester doesn’t get enough attention, Jeff.
JEFF: It doesn’t. There’s so much down here besides the DCU Center for concerts and sports. There are some very cool clubs, theaters, restaurants, bars, and museums.
RAY: Definitely.
JEFF: We’ve been to Worcester, Massachusetts, before searching for a lake monster.
RAY: That’s right! The Indian Lake What-is-It! We covered that one back in Episode 380.
JEFF: We did. We’re back, but this time in downtown Worcester and we’re going to be watching the skies.
RAY: Oh? Why’s that?
JEFF: Ray, we’re on the lookout for Worcester’s Christmas UFO.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger. Welcome to Episode 432 of the New England Legends podcast.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every wicked strange legend in New England from UFOs and aliens, to roadside oddities and eccentrics, to ghosts and monsters. We love it all. And we appreciate when you send us your story leads! Contact us anytime through our website.
JEFF: Speaking of ghosts and monsters… Saturday, February 14th is our Freak Formal! Ray and I are hosting our annual charity bash at the DoubleTree Hotel in Milford, Massachusetts, on Valentine’s Day at 6:30PM to benefit Project Just Because! Come dressed as a monster, ghost, alien, or any weird thing you want. If you love Valentine’s Day, it’s perfect! Bring your sweety. If you hate Valentine’s Day, perfect! Come with friends or come alone. This is always such a fun group. Tickets are just $25 bucks, there will be a cash bar, food, yard games, and DJ Neato Neato will provide the music. Find a link to buy tickets in our episode description! Come party with us for a great cause.
RAY: We’ll go searching for the Worcester Christmas UFO right after these words from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: Worcester has been called the Heart of the Commonwealth. It’s the second biggest city by population behind Boston. It was first incorporated as a town in 1722, it reached city status in 1848. Because of the Blackstone Canal and the railways, there were a bunch of industrial jobs here, many immigrants came to Worcester from all over the world looking for work, and the city grew. Today the population sits at about 211,000 people.
JEFF: As with any melting pot, people bring their various legends and beliefs with them. No surprise there. That may explain some ghost and monster sightings, but UFO sightings are a different matter. This particular UFO story is a head scratcher especially considering when it took place. To find out what happened, let’s head back to 1909 and watch the skies.
[TRANSITION]
[CHRISTMAS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]
RAY: It’s mid-December of 1909, and Worcester is in the holiday spirit. President William Taft is in the White House, Ebenezer Draper is the Governor of Massachusetts. Construction began on the Cape Cod Canal this year, and in Boston, city officials have really been cracking down on child labor. But here in Worcester, folks are in the holiday spirit.
JEFF: That they are. The economy has been doing pretty well this year, which helps the mood as we face the holiday season and the oncoming winter right behind it.
RAY: It’s early Wednesday evening, December 22nd.
JEFF: Today is the Winter Solstice. The sun set at 4:18 today. It’s the shortest day and the longest night. Winter is officially here.
RAY: It’s only fitting that there’s some light snow falling as shoppers hustle along the sidewalks.
[INSIDE RESTAURANT NOISES]
RAY: We’re inside a popular downtown restaurant. It’s packed with diners. There are a lot of smiles and laughter. I think the holiday has everyone in a good mood. It’s about 5:45 in the evening. The wait staff is moving fast from table to table. (AWAY FROM MIC) Can we get some more bread, please! Thanks!
JEFF: Ray, would you pass the butter.
RAY: Here you go.
JEFF: Thanks. It’s great to see so many happy… hey… what is that?
RAY: Where?
JEFF: Outside… In the sky.
RAY: Huh… I see what looks like a search light panning around from the clouds.
[CROWD COMMOTION]
RAY: A lot of people in the restaurant are heading outside to see it for themselves.
JEFF: I don’t wanna be left out! Let’s go!
[PLATES / SILVERWARE BOUNCE]
[CITY NOISES]
JEFF: It’s cold out here!
RAY: It is! There’s some light snow falling. There’s some kind of large craft in the sky! I can’t really make out the shape, but it’s got a search light panning all over the clouds and toward the ground below.
JEFF: The craft and light are circling the city. It’s kind of in and out of the clouds. I can’t make out much of a shape either. But it’s dark and seems pretty big.
RAY: Yeah. And you can’t miss that light panning around the sky. That search light is reflecting off the falling snow. I’m only guessing here, but it looks like the craft is about 2000 feet up.
JEFF: I don’t hear any sound. Maybe it’s being drowned out by the city noises?
RAY: Tons of people have taken to the streets to see this thing. No one knows what to make of it!
JEFF: There’s a local Worcester man named Wallace Tillinghast who has been pretty public about the airplane he’s been working on building. He says it’s going to be a heavier than air craft that can fly from Boston to New York. Can you imagine? But planes are noisy, and none that we know of can fly at night.
RAY: It’s only been six years since the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Since that time there have been a lot of crashes, and a few successes, but yeah, nothing that can fly that high, for that long, or at night.
JEFF: Could it be an airship like a zeppelin?
RAY: Maybe. Nine years ago the first zeppelin flew in Germany. But if there’s one in Massachusetts, you’d think they would have announced it first, and flown it in better weather for everyone to see?
JEFF: What could this airship be?
RAY: I don’t know. No one seems to have a clue. But it’s circling downtown Worcester, it’s large and dark, and that search light hasn’t stopped moving the entire time. Whoever or whatever is in that craft doesn’t care who sees them.
JEFF: Nope. It’s not being stealthy. But then again, what can any of us do about that craft? If it means to spy on us or hurt us, there’s nothing we can do down here short of trying to find some cannon to fire at it.
[CROWD SOUNDS SLOW FADE]
RAY: After about 15 minutes circling downtown Worcester, the craft begins heading northwest… and it’s… it’s gone.
JEFF: Yeah, I don’t see it anymore. Let’s head back inside. I’m cold!
RAY: I’m sure our dinner is cold too.
[INSIDE RESTAURANT NOISES]
RAY: What do you think that ship could have been?
JEFF: Okay, we know there’s been hot air balloon flight since 1783. And though it’s rare, sometimes people fly them during the winter.
RAY: Okay, but that was no hot air balloon. It was moving at over 30 miles per hour in circles then off in one direction. Hot air balloons kind of drift with the winds. And I can’t imagine you’d want to fly anything during a snow storm.
JEFF: I agree. Not a hot air balloon. Okay, the first steerable balloon with a steam engine flew in 1852. And we mentioned the first zeppelin flew in Germany nine years ago in the year 1900.
RAY: Right, but a zeppelin in Massachusetts would have been big news. The newspapers would have announced it.
JEFF: So we have no idea what that craft could…
[VOICE YELLS: Hey! It’s back!]
JEFF: Really?! Let’s head back outside.
[CITY NOISES]
RAY: There it is again!
JEFF: What time do you have?
RAY: Let me see… I got just about 8:40 PM.
JEFF: Whatever this ship is it’s been in the air for over two hours in a snow storm shining its searchlight everywhere.
RAY: The ship circled downtown Worcester four more times… and now it’s heading east.
JEFF: Yeah… I don’t see it anymore. It’s the following day. Worcester is still buzzing about the unidentified craft that circled the city last night. And it looks like this ship wasn’t just seen over Worcester. Check out this article on the sighting in today’s Boston Globe newspaper. Go ahead and give it a read.
[SHUFFLES PAPER]
RAY: Okay, the headline reads: Airship seen in two cities. Cuts circles in air above Worcester. Marlboro first to make out strange visitor. It’s searchlight amazes Christmas shoppers.
JEFF: So it was first seen in Marlboro—about 5:20 PM the article says. Marlboro is about 13 miles to the northeast of Worcester.
RAY: So this craft—or Sky Voyager as the newspaper called it – was seen for more than three hours in the vicinity. And then it disappeared.
JEFF: That’s all we know. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: We should point out there were other sightings of a strange airship in Massachusetts dating back to December 12th. Whatever the craft was, was never identified. Some believe it was some kind of mass hysteria.
RAY: I don’t buy that. Literally thousands of people saw it.
JEFF: I agree. Thousands of people in multiple towns including a city saw this thing. I don’t buy in to mass hallucinations.
RAY: So could it have been… you know… ALIENS!?
JEFF: I don’t know. But you’d think an airship like a zeppelin would be hard to hide. It would have had to land somewhere and word would have gotten around. In the end, the Worcester Christmas UFO Mystery of 1909 will have to remain just that… a mystery.
[OUTTRO]
RAY: And we do love a good mystery. And that brings us to After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
JEFF: After the Legend is brought to you by our Patreon patrons! Making this show each week takes a lot of time and money, so we’re grateful to our patrons for helping us out with our production and hosting costs, marketing, travel, and all of the other expenses it takes to do what we do. If you can help, we can do even more. It’s just $3 bucks per month and for that you get early access to new episodes plus bonus episodes and content that no one else gets to hear. Just head over to patreon.com/newenglandlegends to sign up. We’d be grateful.
To see some pictures related to this week’s story, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on Episode 432.
1909 was a big year for aviation. Things were happening. More planes were being built.
In 1909, the Wright Brothers made their first military flyer. It was a two seat bi-plane that could fly at 45 miles per hour and stay in the sky for an hour.
You know the expression “When pigs can fly?” On November 4, 1909, John Moore-Brabazon attached a basket to his airplane and put a small pig in it with a sign that read: I am the first pig to fly. Making that technically the first cargo plane.
In 1909 the Zeppelin LZ 5 set a record for competing a 712-mile non-stop trip in 37 hours and 39 minutes.
Militaries of the world are ordering planes for military service. It’s obvious if you can control the skies you track troop movements and maybe even drop some hand-held bombs.
You’re already a subscriber to our podcast, right? It’s free! You can find us anywhere you get your podcasts, then you won’t miss a minute of the weirdness. And if you could tell some of your friends about us, that helps us grow, then even more people send us story leads. Check out our web site to see dates for Jeff’s story tour, and dates to see my band the Pub Kings, and join us for our Freak Formal on Valentine’s Day!
We’d like to thank our sponsors, thank you to our patreon patrons, and our theme music is by John Judd.
Until next time remember… stay legendary.