(meteorobs) OT...Commodore Perry and the 'meteor' (or UFO)

[Arlene Carol]

We get reruns of many US tv programs here. I was listening to a History
Channel production and heard a report about Commodore Perry's sighting of a
very strange object that he called a 'meteor'. well, it sure doesn't sound
like a meteor even to me!! I can't imagine what they saw. Could it have been
'ball lightening' ? St. Elmo's fire?
I have never seen that either but surely a Naval Commander would have seen
it before, right? want to venture a guess what it was? I do remember that
strange lights were reported in the sea just before the Big Earthquake here
in 1999. Maybe it was something like that...I have no idea.

did a quick search at Google and found this. If anyone has the actual log or
journal of Commodore Perry, I guess that would be even more interesting to
read... the url of this info is:
http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/ry_litho_main.shtml

Perry and the "UFO." A History Channel program on Unidentified Flying
Objects and the "Pacific Triangle" (aired December 3, 2006 and earlier)
implied that while anchored in Uraga Bay on July 9, 1853, a UFO was seen by
members of the squadron. While certainly not characterizing it as a UFO
sighting, Roger Pineau in his book *The Japan Expedition 1852-1854, The
Personal Journal of Commodore Matthew C. Perry*, presents a description of
the incident as it was reported in Commodore Perry's journal. On the first
visit to Japan, the American squadron anchored in Edo Bay off the city of
Uraga on July 8. In his journal Perry recounted a report by Lieutenant Duer,
the watch commander, in these terms:

In the later part of the night of Friday, the day of our casting anchor upon
the coast of Japan, a most remarkable meteor was seen by Lieutenant Duer in
command of the watch, who describes it as follows:

During the watch from midnight to 4 A.M. a very remarkable meteor was seen.
It made its appearance in the south and west and illuminated the whole
atmosphere. The spars, sails and hulls of the ships in company as well as
our own reflected its glare as distinctly as though a blue light were
burning from each at the same time. From the south and west about 15 degrees
above the horizon it pursued a north-easterly course in a direct line for a
long distance, when it fell gradually toward the sea and disappeared. Its
shape was that of a large blue sphere with a red wedge-shaped tail, which it
could be easily observed was formed of ignited particles, and resembled the
sparks of a rocket as they appear upon its explosion. (Perry's Personal
Journal<http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/ry_litho_narrative.shtml#personal_journal>at
page 91)

 In Volume 1 of the Government narrative an identical account of this
"interesting meteorological phenomenon" is related at page 236.