Perhaps one of the most notable sightings of an odd aerial wonder prior to the 19th century had been a strange ball of light observed by Cromwell Mortimer MD, Secretary of the Royal Society of London, in 1742. Mortimer gives us the following account of this object, which was subsequently published in Philosophical Transactions, vol.XLIII, 1746, pp.522-525: “As I was returning home from the Royal Society to Westminster, on Thursday, December 16, 1742, at [20:40], being about the middle of the parade in St James’s Park, I saw a light arise from behind the trees and houses in the south by west point, which I took at first for a large skyrocket; but when it had risen to the height of about 20º, it took a motion nearly parallel to the horizon, but waved in this manner, and went on to the N by E point over the houses.” https://preview.redd.it/3rwgn31bedc91.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=5953ce753d8a5554af796555e78e390b252739c7 Based on this diagram, Mortimer explains the mechanics of the object as follows: A: seemed to be a light flame, turning backwards from the resistance the air made to it. BB: a bright fire like burning charcoal, enclosed as it were in an open case of which the frame…
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May be the earliest scientific UFO, reported in 1742, was an Electroball.