The ''Edison Star''

By Crusader1307

As we have seen in previous Articles, the craze throughout The World in the 1890s, was that of The ''Great Mystery Airships'' and later in the early 20th Century The ''Scareships''. While most of these ''Reports'' have been widely dismissed as misidentified early Dirigibles and related, some cases do not readily fit into rational explanation. The ''Aurora, Texas Case'' being one of the most famous of possible early, documented UFO ''Airship'' encounters. American Inventor Thomas Edison was also put into The ''Airship Craze'' in 1897. Edison had published reports of building, what He called The ''Edison Star''. This was to be a lighter than air vessel (balloon), capable of carrying 400-pounds of weight and being illuminated with his patented ''light bulb''. The source of continued power for these lights was never fully explained. The illumination was said to be so intense, that Edison's ''Star'' would be clearly visible from Coast to Coast in The United States. Obviously, this was ''hype''. However, claimed ''test flights'' of ''The Star'' on The East Coast of The US were said to rival even The Planet Venus (seen in early morning and often misidentified as a UFO for generations). In fact, reports in 1897 citing that People were reacting to The Planet and NOT Edison's ''Star'' were common place. It should be noted however, that no plans from Edison were ever released not did anyone in His employ state they in fact built or even launched such a device.