Atlantic Ocean: Circle with five arms — 22 March 1870
On a very clear day, with the wind blowing from the north-northeast, Captain Frederick
William Banner and his crew of the American bark “Lady of the Lake” observed an object at 6:30 P.M. in the south-southeast. The ship was located about halfway between Senegal and Natal, Brazil, at latitude 5.47 N and longitude 27.52 W. The object was described as “a circular cloud” light gray in color with a semicircle near the center and four arm-like appendages reaching from the center to the edge of the circle. Banner noted that “from the center to about 6 degrees beyond the circle was a fifth ray, broader and more distinct than the others, with a curved end.” The object moved to the northeast, much lower than the cloud cover. It was last seen at 7:20 P.M. about 30 degrees above the horizon.
Source: Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society, vol.1, new series, No. 6 (April 1873): 157. Case: W434