I've never seen an unidentified flying object.

Too bad I wasn't around 99 years ago. Strange lights from above became a sensation in parts of the Northeast in late 1909.

An object described as a "mysterious airship" was spotted in the night sky of Worcester, Mass., on Dec. 22 of that year. It hovered over the city for a few minutes, disappeared for about two hours, and then returned.

Newspaper reports say the ship cut four circles above the city .. and did some looking around by "sweeping the heavens with a searchlight of tremendous power," read the Schenectady Gazette.

"The news of its presence spread like wildfire and thousands thronged the streets to watch the mysterious visitor," the newspaper story continued.

People on the ground estimated the ship was about 2,000 feet up. Nobody got a good look at its shape.

"The glaring rays of its great searchlight, however, were sharply defined by reflection against the light snowfall, which was covering the city at the time. The dark mass of the ship could be dimly seen behind the light."

After the ship's first appearance in Worcester, the space pilot apparently traveled to nearby Marlboro for an inspection of that piece of New England. Once back around Worcester ... and making those four circles ... it headed south, then east. Then it was gone, like the Christmas star of Biblical days.

This UFO tale came with an added bit of mystery. Wallace E. Tillinghast lived in Worcester, and had been telling people he had invented a "marvelous aeroplane" he had flown to New York City.

Tillinghast, the newspaper reported, "was absent from his home and could not be found."

Hmmmmm...

Who knows if old Wallace was up in the air that night. But I wonder ... why would a terrestrial aviator take an evening tour on a dark, cold, snowy winter night? And how could he have rigged such a sophisticated searchlight when people were still lighting their Christmas trees with candles?

I'll bet you it wasn't old Wallace ...

... And I'll bet you it wasn't a weather balloon, either!