A Brooklyn Correspondent's Cloud Vision of an Angel

A Brooklyn correspondent of the New York Sun reported seeing a vaporous object in the northern sky at 6:00 PM, which he described as resembling a human figure with head, body, and limbs robed in white and an appearance of wings. He interpreted this as a 'presage' of a coming event. The account explicitly notes that this occurred as a singular manifestation in the sky, distinct from clouds or birds.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

A Brooklyn correspondent of the New York Sun, says: 'At 6 o'clock this evening, while looking at the northern sky, I saw a vaporous object, which, in magnitude and contour, marked an object that resembled a human form, with head, body, and nether limbs, the body and limbs robed in a vaporous covering which was of a luminosity of the shaded golden white, and it exhibited a very marked appearance as of wings. I called several persons to it, one of whom discovered himself the resemblance I did. It was not a cloud, for the sky was clear, and it was not a bird, for it was too large and too high. The whole figure was shot through horizontally, with the head eastward and the feet downward. It remained in view for about ten minutes, and then gradually faded away. I look upon it as a presage of some coming event.'