from Elements of Meteorology, 1869

(page 145)

On the fourth of November, 1749, in 42° 48' N. Lat., 2° W. Long., the crew of the ship Montague beheld, a little before noon, and beneath an unclouded sky, a globe of bluish fire, like a millstone, rolling rapidly upon the sea. At a short distance from the vessel, it rose perpendicularly from the water, and struck the masts with an explosion louder than the discharge of a hundred cannon. Five sailors were thrown senseless upon the deck, one of whom was severely injured.