tore off two Branches … I saw it pass from Pilton over Lyndon Lordship, like a black smoky Cloud, with bright Breaks; an odd whirling Motion, and a roaring Noise, like a distant Wind, or a great Flock of Sheep galloping along on hard Ground … As it went by a Quarter of a Mile East from me, I saw some Straws fall from it, and a Part, like an inverted Cone of Rain, reached down to the Ground. Some who were milking, said it came all round them like a thick Mist, whirling and parting, and, when that was past, a strong Wind for a very little while, though it was calm both before and after. It then passed off between Edithweston and Hambleton, but how much further I do not know. Barker published a number of papers in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. As well as being a meteorologist, he was also an astronomer, publishing An Account of the Discoveries concerning Comets, with the Way to find their Orbits, and some Improvements in constructing and calculating their Places in 1757. He "provided a handy table for determining parabolic trajectories and orbits". He was the first modern astronomer to note the discrepancy between some ancient accounts of Sirius being a red star and its current blue-white colour. His journals include observations on the local flora and fauna in addition to the weather. He also wrote a number of theological books. Thomas Barker died on 29 December 1809 and was buried in Lyndon churchyard on 3 January 1810. See also Barker's equation References Further reading External links Thomas Barker biography by Charles Mayhew Abstract of a Register of the Barometer, Thermometer, and Rain, at Lyndon, in Rutland, 1779 by Thomas Barker Barker,Thomas Barker,Thomas Barker,Thomas Barker,Thomas 1722 births 1809 deaths