The 1718 Aurora Reports in the British American Colonies

Record summary

Early eighteenth-century reports of aurorae in the British American colonies provide a comparison class for luminous displays later described in anomalous or supernatural terms. The 1718 observations circulated in a period when aurora borealis was still being debated and explained through competing natural-philosophical models. Researchers should locate the particular newspaper notice, diary, or transatlantic letter behind any claimed sighting. The lead concerns identified geomagnetic light, not an unexplained vehicle, while its historical significance lies in classification and dissemination.