Case file · Unidentified submerged object
The Patna's two wheels of light
In May 1880, at about 11.30 at night in the Persian Gulf, a passenger and officers of the British India steamer Patna saw an enormous luminous wheel turning on each side of the ship.
1880 CE · 26.80, 52.00 · status: account
The account
The passenger, Lee Fraser, said the spokes seemed to brush the ship and that each wheel was 500 to 600 yards across. Captain Avern and the third officer also saw them. The account appeared in Knowledge in 1880.
The sceptical view
As with HMS Vulture, bioluminescent plankton excited by moving pressure waves is the most common explanation.