On the one hand, there are more mystery airships reports (many old but some new) in today's papers than ever before, mostly in the provincial press. On the other, some editors seem to have grown weary of the subject: for example, whereas both the Daily Express and the Standard have carried multiple articles on the subject all this week, today they don't mention it at all. Newspapers which do still discuss the scareships (and there are many) are more likely to have a sceptical tone: the Dundee Evening Telegraph records that 'With regard to the Hull vision, a correspondent who has been making investigations is unable to find one responsible observer who takes the airship view', and that 'Inquiries at Ipswich failed to reveal any confirmation of the airship theory' (p. 2). This may be an effect of the increasingly assertive scepticism of the Daily Mirror and others over the past few days, but it might also have something to do with the discovery of a wrecked fire balloon on the Yorkshire moors. As The Times reports (p. 5):

An under-gamekeeper, named Walter Moore, in the employment of Colonel Longdale [sic], of Houghton Hall, two miles south of Market Weighton and about 14 miles from Selby, found a fire balloon on Houghton Moor on Sunday morning. He paid his first visit to Market Weighton for several days on Tuesday, and had not heard of the rumours which associated the lights which had been seen in the district with foreign airships. He then stated that the balloon was the size of 36-galloon cask and just like those sent up at galas. The cover was marked in blue and yellow stripes, and the fuse when found did not appear to have been long extinguished. The balloon was half-deflated and was resting against a small hillock. He completed the process of deflation, and wrapped up the cover and took it home. It is thought that the light of this balloon may have been that seen on Friday evening.

The Manchester Guardian reports this discovery, and also prints a letter from E. G. Herbert of Manchester along the same lines:

I was passing along Moseley Road, Fallowfield, about three weeks ago at 6 30 p.m. when a lad excitedly called my attention to 'an airship.' There was a bright light in the sky about 20 degrees above the horizon and almost due south from where I was.

My first thought was: 'It cannot be an aeroplane because it moves too slowly; it cannot be an airship because there is no hull visible.' It certainly was not a planet. I doubt if it could have been mistaken for one even if it had been stationary, but the most noticeable thing about it was its steady movement to the right, exactly that of a drifting balloon. During the five minutes or so that I watched it its position changed from south to west-south-west, and it became perceptibly dimmer and more distant.

I concluded that the light was carried by a toy balloon which had probably been sent up by someone wishing to enjoy himself at the expense of the 'jumpiness' of his fellow citizens.

Grahame-White, 'the famous aviator', has also suggested that (as quoted by the Dublin Freeman's Journal, p.6, which is itself quoting the Evening Standard) that 'the reports of lights in the sky seen in different parts of the country might be due to the work of a practical joker sending up fire-balloons'.
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The Daily Mail carries a bare list of the last few days' phantom airship sightings with few details, some of which are discussed more fully elsewhere in today's (or yesterday's) papers, but some are not:

Avonmouth, Bristol, yesterday evening [26 February 1913].
Hull and Grimsby, Tuesday night [25 February 1913].
Dover, Tuesday, 9.20 p.m.
Castle Donnington [sic], Derbyshire, Tuesday, 9.50 p.m.
Leeds, Tuesday night.
Portishead, Somerset, Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Ipswich, Monday night [24 February 1913].
Portsmouth, Monday night.
Withernsea, Yorkshire, Monday, 9.30 p.m.
Corbridge-on-Tyne, Saturday, 9.30 p.m [22 February 1913].
Selby, Scarborough, and Bridlington, Friday night [21 February 1913].

On the previously-reported Hull sighting on Tuesday night, the Daily Mail says that the Admiralty has confirmed that 'None of the three airships possessed by our own military authorities was out that night, nor was the Willows airship belonging to the Navy'. (p. 5). According to the Standard (p. 9; above),

The airship whose lights were seen by crowds at Hull was first traced from the Humber by the crew of the steam trawler Bermuda, who watched its bright white light pass towards the town, descend and rise again, until it disappeared in the direction of Hull. The fisherman reported the occurrence immediately on entering port, and having been on the fishing ground for some time were unaware of similar mysterious airship visits in various parts of the country.

Also, further witnesses to the Gosport (or Portsmouth) airship have come forward, including

Constables Jenkins and Boyers, of the Hants Constabulary, who were on patrol duty. A sergeant of the Marines on duty at the barracks gate declares that he could make out dimly the body of a dirigible of considerable size. The object, whatever it was, came from a northerly direction, and finally disappeared towards the north-east.

The Western Times notes that in addition to the Ipswich airship being seen, 'the throb of its engines was heard [...] it was believed the airship was returning from the direction of Portsmouth to an unknown base' (p. 4).
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There's a slew of new phantom airship reports today. From Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire (Daily Express, p. 1; above):

The coastguards at Hornsea first saw a bright light about eight o'clock [on 25 February 1913]. It appeared to be travelling in a westerly direction. They kept it under observation through their glasses, and have reported the occurrence to the Admiralty.

Mr. Jameson Falconer, one of the principal residents of Hornsea, also watched it through his glasses, and says he succeeded in making out the outlines of an airship, which was carrying two lights -- one white and the other red.

Another resident of Hornsea says that the craft came from the direction of the North Sea, and travelled westwards.

From nearby Hull shortly afterwards:

A little later the airship appeared over the city of Hull. Crowds of people assembled in the centre of the city and outside the Paragon Station, and watched with keenest interest the movements of the mysterious craft for upwards of an hour, when it disappeared in a westerly direction.

The airship's lights were easily distinguishable. At time they appeared to be quite bright, while occasionally a patch of red was visible. The ship altered her course frequently, while at times she appeared to remain stationary.

The lights were first visible coming from the eastwards about 8.30, and it was an hour later before they disappeared from view.

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The Liverpool Echo provides some additional information about the Scarborough airship reported yesterday (p. 4; above). It turns out that it was actually seen 'either once or twice in the early part of the present month' [February 1913], so why it has only come to light now is unclear. According to the Echo, Miss Hollings

reports that while in Stepney-road, some time after nightfall, she heard a noise of machinery in the air in the direction of the racecourse ahead. Looking up she saw what first appeared to be a bright star. A few minutes later from near this light there streamed down a steady, conical stream of white light, playing hither and thither over the racecourse. It continued for several minutes off and on, and then disappeared.

The other witness named in the previous report is not mentioned.

Frank Goddard, of Church Farm, Charlton Musgrove, Somerset, has written in to the Daily Express to report another mystery airship (p. 6):

"This morning [18 February 1913], at about five o'clock, I and two of my men saw an airship appear in the east and sail away to the north-west as if making for the coast.

"It was lighted up and went very fast when going out of sight, but at one time it seemed quite stationary.

"May this not be the same mysterious aircraft that has been seen on several occasions before?"

Both these reports are circumspect with respect to the question of origins, not leading the reader to one conclusion or another.

Although phantom airships have often been in the news lately, none have actually been reported for more than a week. The Dundee Evening Telegraph and Post breaks the drought today with a sighting from Scarborough, on the coast of the North Riding of Yorkshire (p. 4; above). No date is given, unfortunately. At least two people saw it near the racecourse, 'Mr C. T. Taylor, who holds a managerial position in connection with a firm of grocers', and 'Miss Hollings, daughter of Dr Hollings, whose attention was first attracted by the sound of machinery':

The airship showed flashlights for about seven minutes, went away, returned, and showed them for another five minutes, after which it went north.

Mr Taylor thought at first, when the headlight alone was visible, that it was a bright star, but when it began to move naturally his interest was greatly awakened, the more so when he saw the flashlights.

Unusually, the Telegraph seems to imply that the Royal Navy was responsible:

Naval authorities have paid a great deal of attention to the East coast recently, and much manœuvring has been carried out in the vicinity of Scarborough.

The paper's liberal politics perhaps accounts for this lack of alarm about the mystery airship.
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The Aerial Navigation Bill, introduced into the House of Commons only a week ago, is now the Aerial Navigation Act, 1913, as the Daily Mail records (p. 5; above):

The Aerial Navigation Bill received the Royal Assent yesterday and comes into operation at once. Foreign airships will now cross England at their peril unless their pilots declare the objects of their journey. Should pilots pass over forts, royal dockyards, or arsenals they are liable to be shot at and killed.

The terms of the new Act will be communicated at once to foreign Governments, also the regulations to be made by the War Office. Aircraft passing prohibited places will be warned by smoke signals before they are fired at. Rockets or flash lights will be used at night.

The Standard's parliamentary reporter, John Foster Fraser, reports the granting of the Royal Assent in picturesque terms (p. 6):

A pleasant interlude in the shape of a call to the House of Lords broke the rather drab current of the Commons' proceedings. The faithful Commons were called to the House of Peers to hear the reading of a broad, cracking sheet of vellum announcing that the King, under the Great Seal, had commissioned a group of peers to signify the royal assent to a little batch of Bills. So, in solemn ceremonial, the Aerial Navigation Act, with its power to authorise the shooting of aeroplane fly-by-nights, became the law of the land.

As this kind of pomp and ceremony presumably happens on a regular basis, it's difficult to see why it needs to be recounted with this level of detail. Perhaps it's a slow news day.
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