Cresson, Texas: Railroad operator sees 60-foot airship with searchlight and bat-like wings
On the night of April 14, 1897, the Rio Grande Railroad operator at Cresson, Texas, saw an object about 60 feet long with a powerful searchlight and bat-like wings moving at high speed.
Background
At night the Rio Grande Railroad operator at Cresson, Texas, saw an object about 60 feet long, shaped like the top of a passenger coach, with a powerful searchlight in front and several smaller lights on the sides. It moved to the southwest at a “terrific rate of speed” and had wings “something like that of a bat.” After passing the station it turned to the southeast and disappeared in the clouds after a few minutes. The report appeared in the Dallas Morning News on April 16, 1897. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.