The strange story of the UFO “ghost ship” appearing from the 17th century

Several hundred years ago, before the concept of “aliens” became clear, sightings of strange ships were often blamed on “demons.”

In 1913, St. John D Seymour published a book called “Witchcraft and Sorcery in Ireland”. The story tells of a “ship” in the sky over Tipperary that was seen by many witnesses in March 1678.

Witnesses, including a parish priest and a teacher from the nearby town of Poinstown, saw “something like a ship” rising out of the sunset and hurtling across the sky. The sailors on board the ship in particular appeared to be in dire straits, as the ship appeared to be sinking, with everyone running to the front, clinging to the mooring lines to save themselves from drowning.

Then things took an even stranger turn, another ship appeared and a “heaven-shattering” battle broke out between the two. Seymour writes: “A chariot appeared, drawn by two horses, heading north, and immediately behind it came a strange and terrifying creature, probably some kind of snake, with a head like a python, and a knotted mass like a snail’s shell.”

The whole event took place within an hour, all witnesses were almost speechless at the spectacular sight.

While the Poinstown story is considered strange and extremely difficult to explain, possibly due to a mirage, a similar story from the Iron Age Irish king Congalach Cnogba is much clearer.

At a festival in Teltown, on the Blackwater, Congalach and his entire entourage were having fun when they suddenly saw a humanoid creature leaning out in mid-air and seemingly “fishing” in the air with a spear. Seeing this strange phenomenon, the king’s guards tried to restrain him. The stranger then appeared to be about to suffocate and begged to be released. After Congalach agreed to let the man go, he seemed to “swim” through the air back to his ship.

Until now, scientists have not been able to explain whether the strange events of the past were actually UFOs or not.