According to this broadsheet, some terrible and wondrous signs were seen in the heavens in Switzerland, on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th of July, 1612.
They included three suns, three rainbows, a white cross, and two battling armies.
The text in this broadsheet contains rhymed strophes. It describes the events rather superficially and repetitively addresses its Christian readers ‘young and old’ to repent their sins because wondrous signs from heavens are indicators of bad times, war, and menace.
Fig. 20: Sky armies over Switzerland
Source: Beschreibung der am 3.4.5. vnd 6. Julii dises 1612. Jars erschienen vnd grausamen erschröcklichen Wunderzeichen am Himmel (Basel: Johann Schröter, 1612). With 22 strophes from Christian Fischer. Herzog August Bibliothek, HAB 38.25 Aug. 2, fol. 799.
222.
1613, Perth, Scotland: Abducted by fairies
Isobel Haldane testified that she was carried out of her bed, “whether by God or the Devil, she knew not,” to a hillside which opened before her. She went in, and stayed three days in “the fairy kingdom.” Eventually she was brought out by “a man with a grey beard” who taught her to cure diseases and foretell the future.
Far from being rare, such reports of abductions by non-human creatures became commonplace during the 17th century, eventually giving rise to accusations of commerce with the Devil. Unfortunately many of these stories did not include a date or a place. This one is an exception.
Source: Robert Pitcairn, Criminal trials in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1833).
223.
4 March 1614, Kinki, West Japan
Four-sided object
A single object was seen in the sky, described as a four-sided figure. Unfortunately, we have not been able to uncover a quotation from an original source.
Source: Quincy catalog typescript, and the “Nihon-Kaikimonogatari.”
224.
1619, Flüelen, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
Fiery dragon
Herr Christophorus Schere, prefect of Uri County, saw a bright, long object, fiery in color, near Flüelen, flying along Lake Uri: “As I was contemplating the serene sky by night, I saw a very bright dragon flying across from a cave in a great rock in the mount called Pilatus toward another cave, known as Flue, on the opposite side of the lake.
“Its wings were agitated with much celerity; its body was long as well as its tail and neck. Its head was that of a serpent with teeth, and when it was flying, sparkles were coming out of it like the ones thrown by an incandescent iron when struck by smiths on an anvil. At first, I thought it was a meteor, but after observing more closely, (I saw) it was truly a dragon from the recognizable motion of the members. This I write to you with respect, that the existence of dragons in nature is not to be doubted any more.”
Source: Athanassius Kircher, Mundus Subterraneus (Amsterdam, 1665), Lib. VIII, 93-94.
225.
1619, Prague, Czechoslovakia: Flying Globes
A succession of fiery globes is observed. Some of them split into several parts or other globes. The report reads:
“A strange and prodigious thing was seen in a village that is 6 leagues from Prague, the capital city of Bohemia. Never had we seen such a spectacular or frightful sign before. The inhabitants of the village were on guard as the country is full of soldiers, because of the partialities and differences that exist in the empire today. The village priest was with them at about 10:00 in the evening. He was praying, looking up at the sky, when suddenly he stopped, astounded by what he saw. He could see a globe that resembled the moon, but fiery. It divided into two parts, and one of the parts divided into four smaller globes.
“The most amazing thing was that one of the globes disappeared, and in its place we saw a bloody crucifix. These things stayed [in the sky] for a short time, and then disappeared gradually, finally vanishing into a big hole. Then we just saw a great globe which resembled the moon, as we had witnessed at the beginning. This whole process was repeated three or four times, and then everything disappeared.”
Source: An 8-page pamphlet titled Signes Prodigieux d’un Globe de Feu apparu en Allemagne, Capable d’Espouventer toute la Chrestienté, y ayant esté veu un Crucifix sanglant (Prodigious Signs of a Globe of Fire that appeared in Germany, Able to Frighten all the Believers, and a Bloody Crucifix) (Paris: Pierre Bertault, 1619).
226.
1 February 1620, Quimper-Corentin, France
Green flying creature
Many witnesses: thunder falls on the cathedral. A green “demon” is seen inside the fire.
“On Saturday a great disaster took place in the town of Quimper-Corentin; namely that a beautiful and tall pyramid (note: bell tower) covered with lead, being atop the nave of the great church, and over the cross of that said nave, was burnt by the lightning and fire from the sky, from the top down to the said nave, without any way to remedy it.
“And to know the beginning and the end, it is that about seven and a half to eight in the morning, there was a clap of thunder and terrible lightning, and at that instant was seen a horrible and frightening demon, taking advantage of a great downpour of hail, seizing the said pyramid from the top under the cross, being the said demon of green color, having a long tail of the same color. No fire or smoke appeared on the said pyramid, until about one in the afternoon, when smoke started coming out from the top of it, and lasted a quarter of an hour, and from the same place fire appeared, while it ran higher and lower, so that it became so large and frightening that it was feared the whole church would burn, and not only the church but the whole town.
“All the treasures of the church were taken outside; neighbors (of the church) had their goods transported as far as they could, in fear of the fire. There were more than 400 men to extinguish the fire, and they could not do anything to stop it. Processions went around the church and other churches, all in prayers. Finally, for all resolution, holy relics were placed on the nave of the said church, near and before the fire. Gentlemen of the Chapter (in absence of Monsignor the Bishop) began conjuring this evil demon, which everyone could see clearly in the fire, sometimes green, yellow, and blue. (They) threw Agnus Dei into it, and nearly a hundred and fifty barrels of water, forty or fifty carts of manure, yet the fire went on burning.
“For an ultimate resolution a loaf of rye bread worth four sols was thrown into it, within which a consecrated host had been placed, then holy water with the milk of a wet nurse of good morals, and all that was thrown into the fire; at once the demon was forced to leave the fire and before getting out it made such trouble that we all seemed to be burned, and he left at six hours and a half on the said day, without doing any damage (thank God) except for the total ruin of the said pyramid, which is of the consequence of twelve thousand écus at least.
“This evil being out, the fire was conquered. And shortly afterwards, the loaf of rye bread was found still intact, without any damage, except that the crust was somewhat blackened. And about eight or nine and a half, after the fire was out, the bell rang to assemble the people, to give graces to God. The gentlemen of the Chapter, with the choir and musicians, sang the Te Deum and a Stabat Mater, in the chapel of the Trinity, at nine in the evening.”
Source: Lengley-Dufresnoy Vol. I, Part 2, 109, citing La Vision Publique d’un Horrible et très Epouvantable Démon, sur l’Eglise Cathédrale de Quimper-Corentin, en Bretagne, le Premier Jour de ce mois de Février 1620. Lequel Démon consuma une pyramide par le feu, et y survint un grand tonnerre et feu du Ciel (A Paris, chez Abraham Saugrain, en l’Isle du Palais, jouxte la copie imprimée à Rennes par Jean Durand, rue Saint Thomas, près les Carmes, 1620).
227.
9 April 1620, Geneva, Switzerland
Flying hats and men in black
“Two suns were seen, one red and the other one yellow, hitting against each other (…) Shortly afterwards there appeared a longish cloud, the size of an arm, coming from the direction of the sun, which stopped near the sun, and from that cloud came a large number of
people dressed in black, armed like men of war. Then arrived other clouds, yellow as saffron, from which emerged some ‘reverberations’ (?) resembling tall, wide hats, and the earth was seen all yellow and bloody. The sun became double and it all ended with a rain of blood.”
Source: Effroyable bataille aperçue sur la ville de Genesvre le dimanche des Rameaux dernier…(brochure published in 1620) cited in Les Soucoupes chez Heidi (GREPI, 1977).
228.
13 October 1621, Nîmes, France
Fiery chariots, a great sun
“Over the city of Nîmes, about 9 to 10 P.M., over the amphitheater, was seen something like a great sun, very resplendent, which was surrounded by a number of other luminous torches.
“It seemed to want to move straight towards the Roman Tower, over which appeared something like fiery chariots surrounded by very bright stars.”
Source: Les Signes Effroyables Nouvellement Apparus…, Cited by Veronica Magazine (Gouiran & Lamblard, 1976). Also see Michel Bougard, La chronique des OVNI (Paris: Delarge Ed., 1977), 92-93.
229.
12 May 1624, Anhalt, Germany
Chariots in the sky
From six to eight o’clock in the evening a multitude of men and chariots were observed, emerging from the clouds over Gierstedt (Bierstedt), Anhalt, in Germany.
Source: L. Brinckmair, The Warnings of Germany (London: John Norton, 1638), 18-19.
230.
1634, Wiltshire, England
Dancing elves, a paralyzed witness
Mr. Hart was paralyzed and assaulted by a group of dancing elves at night. He woke up in a fairy ring.
The curate of a Wiltshire ‘Latin Schoole’, Mr. Hart was assaulted by a group of elves one night in 1633 or 1634. Whilst walking over the ‘downes,’ he saw “an innumerable quantitie of pigmies or very small people” dancing in a typical fairy ring “and making all maner of small odd noyses.” Mr. Hart, “being very greatly amaz’d, and yet not being able, as he sayes, to run away from them, being, as he supposes, kept there in a kind of enchantment,” fell to the ground in a daze. The “little creatures” surrounded their prey and “pinch’d him all over, and made a sorte of quick humming noyse all the time…” Hart awoke to find himself in the centre of a ring pressed into the grass—a fairy ring. “This relation I had from him myselfe, a few days after he was so tormented,” writes Aubrey.
Source: K. Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies (London: Penguin Books, 1976).
231.
Circa 1635, Port-Louis, Brittany, France
A Procession of sky beings
A 60-year old man named Jean Le Guen, who lived in Riantec near Port-Louis, asserted that he had observed a procession of beings he took to be “angels” in the sky. They were going from Port-Louis to Caudan.
Source: The Diary of Jesuit Father Julien Maunoir, written in 1672, recording a statement about the case by the Lord of Lestour. Published as Miracles et Sabbats. Journal du Père Maunoir, missions en Bretagne (1631-1650) presented by Eric Lebec (Paris: Editions de Paris, 1997), 85.
232.
28 May 1637, Between Chartres and Paris, France
Three unexplained “stars”
Travelers marveled at three large ‘stars’ surrounded by smaller ones, with a long streak of other ‘stars.’ In the absence of a better description, including the duration and trajectory of the phenomena, the skeptic may well decide that the travelers in question simply saw a series of bright meteors.
Source: Les prodigieux Signes nouvellement apparus au ciel en plusieurs lieux et notamment aux environs de la ville de Paris. Avec l’explication d’iceux, lesquels sont très-favorables pour la France (Paris: C. Morlot, 1637), BN 8-LK7-7793.
233.
March 1638, Muddy River near Charlton,
Massachusetts: Missing time among the Puritans
Puritan James Everell and two others were stunned as they saw a luminous mass that hovered and returned over a three-hour period. Their boat was pulled upstream by the phenomenon.
The settling of the first Puritan colony in Boston was chronicled by Governor John Winthrop, who arrived in Massachusetts Bay in 1630 with one thousand English emigrants. A historian himself, Winthrop kept a record of the colony’s first years in the New World. His journal is far from being a mere collection of unlikely anecdotes or village gossip. It is quite significant, therefore, that he regarded two spectacular sightings of unexplained phenomena as being sufficiently important to be recorded for posterity.
The first sighting took place in March 1638. A member of the Puritan Church, James Everell, “a sober, discreet man,” was crossing the Muddy River one evening in a small boat with two companions. Suddenly a great luminous mass appeared in the sky above the river. It seemed to dart back and forth over the water. When it remained motionless, it “flamed up” and seemed to measure three yards square. When it moved, it “contracted into the figure of a swine” and flew away towards Charlton.
It did this repeatedly over a period of two or three hours, always returning briefly to the same spot above the water before shooting off again.
When the light had finally vanished, Everell and his friends stood up and were surprised to learn that the boat was now further upstream than it should have been, as if it had been pushed, pulled or carried by an unknown force. In fact they had been carried against the tide to their original starting point, one mile away.
Why the light would be swine-shaped is a mystery not even the Puritan colonists could interpret, though it should be noted Everell was a leather dresser by trade, and he could have sought a familiar shape in an otherwise amorphous light.
It is curious that the men observed that “two or three hours” passed during the spectacle. Can we believe they sat watching the phenomenon for such a long time?
The mysterious repositioning of the boat could suggest that they were unaware of part of their experience. Some researchers would interpret this as a possible alien abduction if it happened today.
Any speculation at this late date is merely conjecture, but it is interesting to note that at least a superficial resemblance exists between this case and recent claims in the American abduction literature.
Source: John Winthrop, The History of New England from 1630 to 1649 (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1853), 349-350.
234.
April 1639, Yuan, Fengxian, Shansi province, China Flying star at funeral
A red, white, yellow and blue “star” flew over a funeral, circling the village for a long time. The villagers were presenting their condolences to the family of Yuan Yingta, a minister of war under the Ming dynasty who had sacrificed himself on the battlefield while resisting the Man army. Suddenly a luminous object like a star, red, white, yellow and blue in color, flew over the funeral procession. This brilliant thing did not touch the ground, but it flew around the village for a long time, then rose up in the sky again. Its light was visible five kilometers away.
Source: Shi Bo, La Chine et les Extraterrestres, op.cit., 45, citing scholar Lou Ao, Histoire Locale du District Fengxian.
235.
July 1639, Santiago, Spain: ships in the sky
A short pamphlet published in Seville in 1639 titled An Account of the Prodigious Visions of Armies of Men, Standards, Flags, Vessels, and Other Things, that Visibly have been Seen over a Long Time, near the Town of Santiago in Galicia, in the Fields of Lerida, since June 24th to this Present Year of 1639, reported that “in Santiago three ships appeared in the air with the sound of drums and many people.” Unfortunately no more details are given.
Source: Relacion certissima de las prodigiosas visiones…que visiblemente se han visto largo tiempo, cerca de la ciudad de Santiago de Galizia… (Seville, 1639).
236.
9 May 1641, Braga, Portugal: Flying disk, entities
A flat disk (“wafer”) appeared in the sky along with two human figures designated as “angels.” There were numerous witnesses, and the original text makes fascinating reading:
“Year of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1641, May 9th, in this city of Braga, in the lodgings of Reverend Doctor Jao d’Abreda Rocha, ecclesiastic judge and general vicar of this court, the archbishop of Braga: there the Reverend Judge was alerted by D. Gastao Coutinho, general of the province of Entre Douro e Minho, of the fact that many people going towards the area of Porto acting upon a warning given in this city that the enemies were approaching in that area, saw some signs on the moon, in which there appeared a Wafer and two human figures that looked like Angels; and that the said judge know the truth of it: about which the Reverend Doctor ordered this writ to be made, that I sign; and he asked the following witnesses. Father Simao Alvares, apostolic notary, wrote it.”
Source: Francisco Lopez Liureyro, Favores do Ceo. Do braço do Christo que se despregou da cruz, & de outras marauilias dignas de notar. Dedicados ao III. me Senhor D. Rodrigo da Cunha… (Lisbon: Antonio Alvarez, 1642); reprinted as Favores do ceo a Portugal na acclamação do rei D. João IV e acabamento da oppressão dos reis Filippes…, por Francisco Lopes, livreiro lisbonense. Precedidos d’una noticia bibliographica do auctor, escripta pelo Professor Pereira-Caldas (Porto: Ernesto Chadron and Braga: Eugenio Chadron, 1642, 1871).
237.
13 April 1641, Aragón, Spain: Apparitions
Domingo Sánchez, gardener at the Monastery of María de Aragón, who was sworn to chastity, requested permission to marry. On the night of April 13th, in bed with these thoughts, he saw a demon that pulled him out and dragged him for a long time around his lodgings, hitting him. The man sought help from the Virgin, who appeared, surrounded by lights and “aided him until dawn.”
Source: José Pellicer de Salas y Tobar, in his Avisos históricos, a compilation of historical reports spanning the period May 24th 1639 to November 29th 1644.
238.
4 May 1641, Madrid, Spain: Unexplained black cloud
Wonders in the Sky Page 16
