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April 22, 2015

Frightened villagers “killed” the first hydrogen balloon

2015-04-21-progress.jpg

It is presumed that it was carried to a height of more than 20,000 feet, when it burst by the reaction of the Inflammable Gas upon the Atmospheric Air.
It fell at three quarters past five near Gonesse, ten miles [actually, 15 miles] from the Field of Mars. The affrightened inhabitants ran together, appalled by the Hellish stench of sulphur, and two monks having assured them it was the skin of a Monstrous Animal, they attacked it with stones, pitchforks and flails. The Curate of the village was obliged to attend in order to sprinkle it with holy water and remove the fears of his astonished parishioners. At last they tied to the tail of a horse the first Instrument that was ever made for an Experiment in Natural Philosophy, and trained it across the field more than 6000 feet. Progress - Futility ClosetFutility Closet

Posted by gerardvanderleun at April 22, 2015 4:55 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

They thought it was a UFO and feared the obligatory anal probings. (except for the naturally *gay* doods in the community who looked forward to the probes but couldn't exclaim their enthusiasm without outting themselves and risking getting burned at the stake as normal communities have always done)

UFO sightings in the 1950's resembled the ones that were shown in 1950's sci-fi flix.

Funny how that works out, eh?

(power of suggestion?)

Posted by: ghostsniper [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 22, 2015 8:22 PM

Ah, them Frenchies, always screwing up everything. They're built upside down: their noses run and their feet smell, haw haw. (There's an obscene version of that joke but this is a sensitive New Age website).

One French town was overcome by a hallucinogenic drug akin to LSD 6. Ergot.
This town, like many other communities in the past and present, harvested rye as part of their grain crops, and it was a staple in their diet.

But it turns out that rye grass is susceptible to a particular fungus called Claviceps purpurea which infects the edible portions of the plant.
During the ergot stage of this fungus' development, a cocktail of interesting alkaloids are present which will cause problems with circulation and neurotransmission when ingested by humans.
Psychedelic, folks.
Imagine tripping back in 1783. The priests would have their hands full channeling all them zoomers.

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 22, 2015 10:00 PM

My guess there were a host of crucifixions, exorcisms and a couple of illicit diddlings. Those Curé were not the most holy of men.

Imagine a ham on rye doing all that.

Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 23, 2015 3:59 AM

You wonder if the villagers weren't right. Who, today, does not assess the new in light of what we have seen before?

gs correctly notes that UFOs and other mania can only described by observers in words their language and culture contain. Thus: "UFO sightings in the 1950's resembled the ones that were shown in 1950's sci-fi flix."

Consider the Bible and other ancient works where some descriptions of gods, angels, events, etc. make little or no sense to us today. The writers simply, IMO, were constrained by their prior experiences.

Posted by: Ken [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 23, 2015 11:18 AM

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