“Albert J. Parsons, a captain of guards at the [duPont] Carney’s Point plant,” the Feb. 2, 1916 issue of the Wilmington Evening Journal reported, “has informed high officials of the powder company that he heard and saw the airship as it roamed above the powder plant, and officials who heretofore were skeptical now place the fullest faith in Parsons’ story.”
Parsons claimed the airship hovered over the plant for 15 minutes, before it disappeared in a southeasterly direction, toward Atlantic City.
Delaware residents watches skies with wary eye in World War I
In February 1916, World War I had been raging for nearly two years, and the United States had managed to remain out of the European conflict.
Numerous reports, however, of aerial raids by German Zeppelins on England were featured on the front pages of Delaware newspapers, and the constant bombing reports of civilian areas caused First State residents to watch the sky with a growing sense of apprehension.
Albert Parsons was not the only one to see strange lights in the sky. Several residents of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, 30 miles north of Wilmington, claimed that they also saw a mysterious aircraft.