Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA: Circle of fire — 8 June 1869
About 2:30 A.M. an object “larger than the moon when full” was observed in the western
sky for half an hour. “It was of a bright red color, and at intervals of a few minutes, darted forth on every side bright rays like the straws of a broom, and from the ends of these were sent out sparks like those of a Roman candle. Suddenly this would cease, and only the circle or ball of fire remained, when again the rays would blaze out around the whole circumference of the central ball.” Two witnesses, including the doorman of Pike’s Opera House, watched the phenomenon as it went down behind Mount Davidson, following the motion of the stars and “still blazing and sputtering forth sparks and jets of fire.”
Source: “Singular Celestial Phenomenon,” Fort Wayne Daily Democrat (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 9 June 1869. 476. Case: W430