Atmospheric Phenomenon

The "Glaneur du Haut Rhin," of the 21st ult. gives the following on the phenomenon observed at Colmar on the 21st:-"The same event was observed in several parts of Alsace, and also of Switzerland. Two violent detonations took place in the region of Vosges. They were accompanied by a bright light. The doors and windows of the houses in the villages of the valleys and lower Vosges were greatly shaken, but on the plain they were much less so. At Colmar, the phenomenon was considered by many persons to have been a peal of thunder preceded by a flash of lightning; but the duration was much longer than any such flash, and produced a species of scintillation in the fog. The shock there was feeble compared to what was felt at Berghheim, Riquewihr an other communes at the foot of the Vosges. In the valley of Munster, the light inflamed the whole of the horizon, and was equal to the light of day, and the shock was very strong. In the valley of Girogmagny the shock was also strong, and the light effaced the light of the candles. At Belfort, the light was seen through the fog in the direction of the north, and had all the appearance of lightening, but the weekly journal of the town does not state that any noise was heard or any shock felt. The light was also seen at Delemont, in Switzerland, but here there were two flashes with two corresponding detonations. The town, enveloped in a dense fog, was suddenly illuminated as by a gleam of the sun in August. This brightness occurred twice within two or three seconds. The Helvetie, from which we borrow this account, makes no mention of either detonation or earthquake. These data are too incomplete for us to decide upon the cause of the phenomenon; but from the wide circle in which it was observed, and the time which elapsed between the flash and the shock, it may be presumed that it came from a great height above the horizon." The Federal of Geneva noticed that in the same day, and at the same hour, a meteoric light was seen of such brightness that those who were on the heights above the town say, that all Fribourg appeared to be on fire. The journal adds, that it must have extended very widely, as it was perceived at Berne and in the Jura.-Galignani.