The Denison saucer report
On 25 January 1878 the Denison Daily News printed a farmer's account of a flying object near Denison, Texas, said to look like a saucer.
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The Denison Daily News, a Texas paper, ran the story on its front page on 25 January 1878 headed "A Strange Phenomenon". The Black Vault says the farmer gave the account himself. Mike Cox, writing on Texas Escapes, reprints the full article.
Wikipedia summarises the account by the farmer, John Martin: he saw something like a balloon moving "at wonderful speed". From his position it appeared about the size of a saucer. Wikipedia counts this among the earliest times a newspaper linked the word "saucer" with a UFO, though the word describes apparent size.
Writers differ on one detail: some reprints put the farm to the north of Denison and others to the south.
"These are often seen as precursors to flying saucer and UFO sightings.[7] On January 25, 1878, the Denison Daily News printed an article in which John Martin, a local farmer, reported an object resembling a balloon flying "at wonderful speed". The newspaper said it appeared to be about the size of a saucer from his perspective, one of the first uses of the word "saucer" in association with a UFO.[8] An outbreak of a number of sightings of mystery airships occurred in America in 1896 and 1897. During World War II, Allied pilots reported balls of light following their planes."
- Denison UFO, Mike Cox, Texas Escapes (2008)
- Denison, Texas UFO sighting, 1878, The Black Vault