4 a.m.
While I was glancing at the _ Times _ newspaper in a morning train for London my eyes fell on the following item : -- A STRANGE LIGHT ON MARS . -- On Monday afternoon , Dr. Krueger , who is in charge of the central bureau at Kiel , telegraphed to his correspondents : -- '' _ Projection lumineuse dans région australe du terminateur de Mars observée par Javelle 28 courant , 16 heures . -- Perrotin . _ '' In plain English , at 4 a.m. , a ray of light had been observed on the disc of the planet Mars in or near the `` terminator '' ; that is to say , the zone of twilight separating day from night . The news was doubly interesting to me , because a singular dream of `` Sunrise in the Moon '' had quickened my imagination as to the wonders of the universe beyond our little globe , and because of a never-to-be-forgotten experience of mine with an aged astronomer several years ago . This extraordinary man , living the life of a recluse in his own observatory , which was situated in a lonely part of the country , had , or at any rate , believed that he had , opened up a communication with the inhabitants of Mars , by means of powerful electric lights , flashing in the manner of a signal-lantern or heliograph . I had set him down as a monomaniac ; but who knows ?