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[55] DEPOSITIONS. The voluntary declaration and deposition on oath, of NATHANIEL WHITBREAD of Swanley Bar, farmer, in the parish of North Mimms, in the County of Hertford, Yeoman. THIS Deponent, on his oath, saith, that being on Wednesday the 15th day of September instant, between the hours of three and four in the afternoon, in a certain field called Etna, in the parish of North Mimms aforesaid, he perceived a large Machine sailing in the air, near the place where he was on horseback; that the Machine continuing to approach the earth, the part of it in which this Deponent perceived a gentleman standing, came to the ground, and dragged a short way on the ground in a slanting direction; that the time when the Machine thus touched the earth, was, as near as this Deponent could judge, about a quarter before four in the afternoon. That this Deponent being on horseback, and his horse restive, he could not approach nearer to the Machine than about four poles, but that he could plainly perceive therein a gentleman dressed in light coloured cloaths, holding in his hand a trumpet, which had the appearance of silver or bright Tin. That by this time several harvest men coming up from the other part of the field, to the number of twelve men and thirteen women, this Deponent called to them to endeavor to stop the Machine, which the men attempted, but the gentleman in the Machine desiring them to desist, and the Machine moving with considerable rapidity, and clearing the earth, went off in a North direction, and continued in flight at a very great height for near an hour afterwards. And this Deponent further saith, that the part of the Machine in which the gen ^[[tleman]] [[end page]] [[start page]] [56] tlemen stood, did not actually touch the ground for more than half a minute, during which the gentleman threw out a parcel of what appeared to this deponent as dry sand. That after the Machine had ascended again from the earth, this Deponent perceived a grapple with four hooks, which hung from the bottom of the Machine, dragging along the ground, which carried up with it into the air a small parcel of loose oats, which the women were raking in the field. And this Deponent further on his oath saith, that when the Machine had risen clear from the ground about twenty yards, the gentleman spoke to this deponent and the rest of the people with his trumpet, wishing them good bye, and saying that he should soon go out of sight. And this deponent further on his oath saith, that the Machine in which the gentleman came down to the earth, appeared to consist of two distinct parts connected together by ropes, namely, that in which the gentleman appeared to be, a stage boarded at the bottom, and covered with netting and ropes on the sides, about four feet and a half high, and the other part of the Machine appeared in the shape of an urn, about thirty feet high, and of the same diameter, made of canvass, like oil skin, with green, red, and yellow stripes. NATHANIEL WHITBREAD. Sworn before me this twentieth day of September, 1784. WILLIAM BAKER. ^[[The]] [[end page]] [[start page]] [57] The voluntary declaration and depositions on oath, of WILLIAM HARPER, of the Parish of Hatfield, in the county of Hertford, Labourer, and of MARY BUTERFIELD, of Parish of North Mimms, in the County of Hertford, Spinster. THIS Deponent William Harper, on his oath, saith, that as he was mowing oats in a certain field, called Etna, in the Parish of North Mimms, in the County of Hertford, on the Wednesday the 15th of this instant September, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, in company with Thomas Blackwell, Thomas Moore, John Richardson, and several others, he perceived a large Machine hovering in the air, and gradually approaching the ground, near the boundary line of the Manors of Northaw and North Mimms; that on his approaching the Machine, in company of the persons aforementioned, the Machine which had then passed the said boundary line, touched the earth in the said field, called Etna. And this Deponent being then at the distance of four or five poles from the same, plainly perceived a gentleman in the lower part of the said Machine, dressed in light coloured cloaths, and a cocked up hat, who, on the Machine touching the ground, threw out a parcel of dust, or white sand; that immediately the Machine mounted again into the air, and went off in a North direction, that while the Machine continued touching the ground; Mr. Nathaniel Whitbread, who was likewise present on horseback, desired this Deponent, and the rest who were present to stop the said Machine, which some of them, and in particular Thomas Blackwell attempted to do, but the gentleman ^[[desiring]] [[end page]] I[[start page]] [58] desiring them not to stop the Machine, they desisted. And this Deponent Mary Butterfield, on her oath, saith, that she was raking oats in the said field called Etna, on Wednesday the 15th of September, instant, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, in company with Mary Crawley, Sarah Day, and others, and perceived a large Machine hovering over Northaw Common, and approaching the earth in the field where this Deponent was at work, which at length it touched in the said field called Etna, and during the time that it so touched the ground, a kitten which was in the lower part of the said Machine, came out on the field, which this Deponent picked up, and soon afterwards sold to a gentleman who came up to the hedge side, enquiring after the Machine, which he called an Air Balloon. That this Deponent plainly perceived a gentleman in the lower part of the Machine, dressed in light coloured cloaths, who, on the Machine ascending again, spoke through his trumpet, and wished them good bye. And these Deponants, William Harper and Mary Butterfield, severally, on their oaths, say that the Machine which came down to the earth, appeared to consist of two parts connected together, namely that in which the gentleman was, appeared to be a frame-work of wood and netting, from which there stuck out a sort of wing, and the other part of the Machine appeared in the shape of a large pear with the stalk downwards, and appeared to be made of silk or canvas, in stripes of green and red; and this Deponent, Mary Butterfield, further, on her oath, saith, that when the Machine was ascending from the ground, she, this Deponent perceived an anchor or grapple drag along ^[[the]] [[end page]]