Heavenly signs witnessed during baptism in the Newcastle Conference
Published October 6, 2026 at 3:56 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
On the evening of February 21, 1887, at approximately 9:00 p.m., a group of eight people, including the author M. F. Riasy, were engaged in prayer before a baptismal service. During their prayer, a bright bar of red light appeared in the sky, positioned to hide the end star of the Big Dipper (the handle of the Northern Dipper). Shortly after, seven additional, less bright lights appeared in the east. The eight signs corresponded with the number of people witnessing the baptisms, appearing to be an answer to the specific prayer that there might be witnesses in heaven as there were on earth.
In Their Own Words
“On one occasion, when night had revealed the stars and shrouded the earth in darkness, as we were engaged in prayer before going into the water to attend to the ordinance of baptism, there appeared a sign in the heavens which was so vivid that we all supposed a comet had fallen near us. It was a bar of red light, evenly shaped on both sides, but broken on the top and bottom. It was about half as long as the handle of the Northern Dipper, and stood in such a position as to hide the end star of that astronomical figure. Before it vanished, which was just before or just as we had concluded the baptism, seven others appeared in the east, but were less bright, and did not remain so long. These eight signs seemed to correspond in number to the eight persons witnessing the baptisms, which was the echo of the prayer “that there might be witnesses in heaven, even as there were on earth.” It occurred on the evening of the 21st of last month, about nine o'clock.”
— M. F. Riasy, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 49, No. 12
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 21 March 1887 (Vol. 49, No. 12). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1887-03-21_49_12 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 21 March 1887, Vol. 49, No. 12, p. 190 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1887-03-21_49_12
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