14 October 1912; parliamentary answer 21 November / T020
The unidentified aircraft heard over Sheerness
Sheerness and Eastchurch, Kent
Witness account
A parliamentary question alleged that a Zeppelin had passed over Sheerness on 14 October. Churchill's reply was narrower: inquiries found that an unknown aircraft had been heard around 7 p.m.; flares were lit at Eastchurch, but it did not land. He said the evidence did not establish its nationality. Later questions continued to present a foreign airship as a fact.
Public record
Hansard records the question and answer of 21 November 1912 directly. The distinction between 'a Zeppelin passed over' in the question and an unidentified aircraft heard in the answer is material. Subsequent December questioning concerned precautions against aerial observation or attack. Surviving naval correspondence is identified in later historical scholarship.