Observations from above

Did you ever get to see the city from a place of any height? It will totally give you another perspective on the place you live.

When Thaddeus Lowe was growing up he lived in Jefferson Mills, New Hampshire surrounded by mountains. Young Thad thought that having a mountain named after you was the highest tribute a man could get. He spent a lot of time in the mountains observing the valley below.

As the young lad was growing his interest in balloons and flying became foremost in his mind.

In one of his early experiments Thad built a monster kite within which he placed a lantern and an unfortunate tom cat. The incident was referred to later as an 'unusual changeable light' seen over Hingham Centre. Sounds like an early UFO hoax to me.

By the time the Civil War had started Thaddeus Lowe was one of the countries foremost balloonists. His observations above the lines of enemy troops most certainly helped in the effort to win the war.

After the war Thaddeus moved to Southern California and got involved with yet another lofty project, the Pasadena and Mt. Wilson Railroad.

Eventually the railroad and Mt. Lowe were named after him. From the hotels to inspiration point Lowe treated the world to a place to observe the world below from his favorite vantage point up in the clouds.

By Jake Brouwer

Send email to Echowebmaster@aaaim.com to report any problems.
Last modified: February 12, 1999

No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without written permission from:
Jake Brouwer
All articles and photos were provided by:
Land-Sea Discovery Group
Copyright © 1999