about midnight
His idea was that meteorites might be falling in a heavy shower upon the planet , or that a huge volcanic explosion was in progress . He pointed out to me how unlikely it was that organic evolution had taken the same direction in the two adjacent planets . `` The chances against anything manlike on Mars are a million to one , '' he said . Hundreds of observers saw the flame that night and the night after about midnight , and again the night after ; and so for ten nights , a flame each night . Why the shots ceased after the tenth no one on earth has attempted to explain . It may be the gases of the firing caused the Martians inconvenience . Dense clouds of smoke or dust , visible through a powerful telescope on earth as little grey , fluctuating patches , spread through the clearness of the planet 's atmosphere and obscured its more familiar features .