In October 1941, Thayer printed a a report from K. W. Golde, about mysterious sounds heard in Moodus, Connecticut. The basis of the report was an article in the Buffalo Evening News dated 2 March 1940.
Golde appeared in The Fortean Society Magazine only once more, in the winter 1944-45 issue (number 11). In that case, he—along with others—sent in an article from Time magazine (9 October 1944) about a live carp that was found in a chimney.
That’s not much to go on. But it’s likely this K. W. Golde was Knute W. Golde of Tonawanda, NY, near Buffalo. What makes this connection reasonable?
First, there’s the fact that the first article contributed by Golde came from a Buffalo newspaper. Second, there’s a Knute Golde from Tonawanda, New York, listed in the Journal of Calendar Reform. (Vol. 12 (1942): 149). Calendar reform, of course, was a cause close to Thayer’s heart.
If this is, indeed, the correct K. W. Golde, then he was a piano repairman. Golde was born 11 November 1906 to a family of German immigrants. His father was a butcher. In 1940, he was single, had been to two years of college, and was living with a brother, two sisters, and his uncle. His parents had died when he was relatively young, his mother passing in 1919, his father in 1922.
But maybe this Golde and the K. W. Golde who contributed to The Fortean Society are different. The case is still interesting for his first report: The Moodus noises.
Charles Fort had mentioned these in New Lands (391-2):
"Upon August 11, 1805, an explosive sound was heard at East Haddam, Connecticut. There are records of six prior sounds, as if of explosions, that were heard at East Haddam, beginning with the year 1791, but, unrecorded, the sounds had attracted attention for a century, and had been called the "Moodus" sounds, by the Indians. For the best account of the "Moodus" sounds, see the Amer. Jour. Sci. 39-339. Here a writer tries to show the phenomena were subterranean, but says that there was no satisfactory explanation. Upon the 2nd of April, 1808, over the town of Pignerol, Piedmont, Italy, a loud sound was heard: in many places in Piedmont an earthquake was felt. In the Rept. B. A., 1854-68, it is said that aerial phenomena did occur; that, before the explosion, luminous objects had been seen in the sky over Pignerol, and that in several of the communes in the Alps aerial sounds, as if of innumerable stones colliding, had been heard, and that quakes had been felt. From April 2 to April 8, forty shocks were recorded at Pignerol; sounds like cannonading were heard at Barga. Upon the 18th of April, two detonations were heard at La Tour, and a luminous object was seen in the sky. The supposition, or almost absolute belief of most persons is that from the 2nd to the 18th of April this earth had moved far in its orbit and was rotating so that, if one should explain that probably meteors had exploded here, it could not very well be thought that more meteors were continuing to pick out this one point upon a doubly moving planet. But something was specially related to this one local sky. Upon the 19th of April, a stone fell from the sky at Borgo San Donnino, about 40 miles east of Piedmont (Rept. B. A., 1860). Sounds like cannonading were heard almost every day in this small region. Upon the 13th of May, a red cloud such as marks the place of a meteoric explosion was seen in the sky. Throughout the rest of the year, phenomena that are now listed as "earthquakes" occurred in Piedmont. The last occurrence of which I have record was upon Jan. 22, 1810.
Feb. 9, 1812--two explosive sounds at East Haddam (Amer. Jour. Sci., 39-339).
July 5, 1812--one explosive sound at East Haddam (Amer. Jour. Sci., 39-339).
Oct. 28, 1812--"phantom soldiers" at Havarah Park, near Ripley, England (Edinburgh
Annual Register, 1812-II-124). When such appearances are explained by
meteorologists, they are said to be displays of the aurora borealis.
Psychic research explains variously. The physicists say that they are mirages of troops marching somewhere at a distance.
Night of July 31, 1813--flashes of light in the sky of Tottenham, near London (Year Book of Facts, 1853-272). The sky was clear. The flashes were attributed to a storm at Hastings, 65 miles away. We note not only that the planet Mars was in opposition at this time (July 30), but in one of the nearest of its oppositions in the 19th century.
Dec. 28, 1813--an explosive sound at East Haddam."
The Moodus noises are blamed on small, superficial earthquakes. But they also worked themselves into the area’s lore, and was one strand connecting the Forteans to another sub-culture. The noises are thought to have inspired parts of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror. (S. T. Joshi, ed., The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, Dell, 1997, 112.)
Golde appeared in The Fortean Society Magazine only once more, in the winter 1944-45 issue (number 11). In that case, he—along with others—sent in an article from Time magazine (9 October 1944) about a live carp that was found in a chimney.
That’s not much to go on. But it’s likely this K. W. Golde was Knute W. Golde of Tonawanda, NY, near Buffalo. What makes this connection reasonable?
First, there’s the fact that the first article contributed by Golde came from a Buffalo newspaper. Second, there’s a Knute Golde from Tonawanda, New York, listed in the Journal of Calendar Reform. (Vol. 12 (1942): 149). Calendar reform, of course, was a cause close to Thayer’s heart.
If this is, indeed, the correct K. W. Golde, then he was a piano repairman. Golde was born 11 November 1906 to a family of German immigrants. His father was a butcher. In 1940, he was single, had been to two years of college, and was living with a brother, two sisters, and his uncle. His parents had died when he was relatively young, his mother passing in 1919, his father in 1922.
But maybe this Golde and the K. W. Golde who contributed to The Fortean Society are different. The case is still interesting for his first report: The Moodus noises.
Charles Fort had mentioned these in New Lands (391-2):
"Upon August 11, 1805, an explosive sound was heard at East Haddam, Connecticut. There are records of six prior sounds, as if of explosions, that were heard at East Haddam, beginning with the year 1791, but, unrecorded, the sounds had attracted attention for a century, and had been called the "Moodus" sounds, by the Indians. For the best account of the "Moodus" sounds, see the Amer. Jour. Sci. 39-339. Here a writer tries to show the phenomena were subterranean, but says that there was no satisfactory explanation. Upon the 2nd of April, 1808, over the town of Pignerol, Piedmont, Italy, a loud sound was heard: in many places in Piedmont an earthquake was felt. In the Rept. B. A., 1854-68, it is said that aerial phenomena did occur; that, before the explosion, luminous objects had been seen in the sky over Pignerol, and that in several of the communes in the Alps aerial sounds, as if of innumerable stones colliding, had been heard, and that quakes had been felt. From April 2 to April 8, forty shocks were recorded at Pignerol; sounds like cannonading were heard at Barga. Upon the 18th of April, two detonations were heard at La Tour, and a luminous object was seen in the sky. The supposition, or almost absolute belief of most persons is that from the 2nd to the 18th of April this earth had moved far in its orbit and was rotating so that, if one should explain that probably meteors had exploded here, it could not very well be thought that more meteors were continuing to pick out this one point upon a doubly moving planet. But something was specially related to this one local sky. Upon the 19th of April, a stone fell from the sky at Borgo San Donnino, about 40 miles east of Piedmont (Rept. B. A., 1860). Sounds like cannonading were heard almost every day in this small region. Upon the 13th of May, a red cloud such as marks the place of a meteoric explosion was seen in the sky. Throughout the rest of the year, phenomena that are now listed as "earthquakes" occurred in Piedmont. The last occurrence of which I have record was upon Jan. 22, 1810.
Feb. 9, 1812--two explosive sounds at East Haddam (Amer. Jour. Sci., 39-339).
July 5, 1812--one explosive sound at East Haddam (Amer. Jour. Sci., 39-339).
Oct. 28, 1812--"phantom soldiers" at Havarah Park, near Ripley, England (Edinburgh
Annual Register, 1812-II-124). When such appearances are explained by
meteorologists, they are said to be displays of the aurora borealis.
Psychic research explains variously. The physicists say that they are mirages of troops marching somewhere at a distance.
Night of July 31, 1813--flashes of light in the sky of Tottenham, near London (Year Book of Facts, 1853-272). The sky was clear. The flashes were attributed to a storm at Hastings, 65 miles away. We note not only that the planet Mars was in opposition at this time (July 30), but in one of the nearest of its oppositions in the 19th century.
Dec. 28, 1813--an explosive sound at East Haddam."
The Moodus noises are blamed on small, superficial earthquakes. But they also worked themselves into the area’s lore, and was one strand connecting the Forteans to another sub-culture. The noises are thought to have inspired parts of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror. (S. T. Joshi, ed., The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, Dell, 1997, 112.)
