The Night the Sea Sent Fire

In 1749, somewhere north of Corsica, the crew of the Montague watched a blue fireball roll across the surface of the sea. It moved steadily toward the ship—silent at first, glowing, low to the waves. The men lowered the sails and braced for impact. But just before reaching the hull, the ball rose into the air and exploded.

The sound, one witness wrote, was as if hundreds of cannons had been fired at once. The main topmast splintered. The sail tore open. Five men were thrown to the deck. One was burned. And in the aftermath, a heavy stench settled across the vessel. “So great a smell of brimstone,” the account reads, “that the ship seemed to be nothing but sulphur.”

It was recorded without commentary, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. No theory, no conclusion—only what was seen, heard, and endured.

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