85 BC, Roman Empire: Burning shield
“In the consulship of Lucius Valerius and Gaius Marius a burning shield scattering sparks ran across the sky at sunset from west to east.” (Pliny: Natural History Book II, Chapter XXXIV.)
The description matches the behavior of an ordinary meteor. There is also a date problem with this item. The consulship in 85 BC was held by Cornelius Cinna III and Papirius Carbo I, not the people mentioned. The only consulship held by two people named as in Pliny’s claim, C. Marius VI and L. Valerius Flaccus, was in 100 BC. Several sources were checked, including Who’s Who in the Roman World by John Hazel (Routledge UK, 2002, 110). Valerius did, however, become a suffect consul in 86 BC, which may be the source of the error.
72 BC, Phrygia, near Otryae, Turkey
A falling meteorite stops a battle
At the time of the war between Lucullus and Mithridates, “Marius, whom Sertorius had sent out of Spain to Mithridates with forces under him, stepping out and challenging him, prepared for battle. In the very instant before joining battle, without any perceptible alteration preceding, on a sudden the sky opened, and a large luminous body fell down in the midst between the armies, in shape like a hogshead, but in color like melted silver, insomuch that both armies in alarm withdrew. This wonderful prodigy happened in Phrygia, near Otryæ.” (Plutarch’s Lives: Lucullus, translated by John Dryden, 1683.) There is no reason to believe this object was anything but a natural phenomenon.
68 BC, China: A “Guest Star” hovers over the land
The Han Shu, composed in 100 AD, reports that a “guest star” was observed during “first watch of the night” on July 23rd 68 BC. It “stayed between the left and the right star of Chio, pointing southeastward and measuring about 2 degrees. Its color was white.” (Han Shu p.46)
While this particular phenomenon has yet to be identified, it must be noted that the Han Shu uses the same wording to describe the appearance of comet Swift-Tuttle in August of the same year. The Han Shu records many such sightings with great precision, and modern astronomers correlate them to records of comets.
62 BC, Roman Empire: Flashes of fire
Dio Cassius, in his Roman History (c. 229 AD), writes “in the west flashes of fire darted up into heaven.” There are many such reports in records of that period, and they are often quoted in UFO chronologies. However they are so vague that they could describe several natural phenomena, including meteors, comets or auroral displays.
July 43 BC: The Comet of Murtine, Croatia
Pliny the Elder tells that Augustus wrote “On the very days of my games, a comet was visible over the course of seven days, in the northern region of the heavens. It rose at about the eleventh hour of the day and was bright and plainly seen from all lands. The common people believed that this star signified the soul of Caesar had been received among the spirits of the immortal gods. On this account, it was added as an adornment to the head of the statue of Caesar that I, not long afterwards, dedicated in the Forum.”
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus included Augustus’ account in his book The Lives of the Caesars, and Seneca also mentions it in Quaestiones Naturales, stating the phenomenon appeared at the 11th hour of the day. Plutarch, Siculus and Obsequens all wrote about it, as well as Servius in his commentaries on Virgil’s Eclogue and Aeneid in the 4th century. Servius relates the phenomenon was observed in the daytime and lasted for three days, but he was writing long after the event. Astronomers believe there could be a link with a comet recorded in the Han Shu for May and June 43 BC.
Circa 5 BC, Galilee: The Star of Bethlehem
The birth of Christ presents us with a remarkable, if controversial, report of an extraordinary star. It is often cited in the UFO literature as an example of the relationship between signs in the sky, celestial beings and human reproduction. A very bright object was reportedly seen in the sky, leading the three Magi to the place where Jesus was born. Many possible explanations have been advanced for this “Star of Bethlehem,” thought by some to be Venus, or a nova. The lack of a precise date or even year for the birth of Jesus makes it difficult to reach a definite conclusion about the nature of this celestial object.
Fig. 45: The Star of Bethlehem
The New Testament describes an encounter between a young woman named Mary and an entity from the sky, described as an angel: “The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.’”
“She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favor. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a Son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.” (Luke 1:26-38)
This scene has inspired numerous painters, who consistently show a light above Mary, sometimes associated with a bird, and the angel speaking to her. We will return to the question of artistic representation of such events in Part III. Interestingly, the thirteenth-century Golden Legend of Jacques de Voragine, an authoritative source on the lives of the Saints and the chronology of Catholic feasts, questions the nature of the star:
“Some say that it was the Holy Ghost, Who had taken this form in order to guide the Magi. Others think it was an angel who also appeared to the shepherds. Still others, with whom we agree, are of the opinion that it was a heavenly body newly created, and that once it had fulfilled its mission, it was absorbed once more into the matter of the universe.”
Ca. 28 AD, Jerusalem: Judas enters a luminous cloud
“Look, you have been told everything,” Jesus says to Judas after whispering secrets to his friend and most loyal follower. “Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star.” Judas lifted his eyes and saw the luminous cloud, and he entered it.
Source: The Gospel of Judas, a newly-deciphered Coptic codex released in 2006 by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.
Circa 249, Britain: A terrible bloody sword in the air
“At his [Decius’] coming to the Throne it Rained Blood in divers parts of this Kingdom, and a Terrible Bloody Sword was seen in the Air for three Nights, a little after Sunset.” (Britton, C.E., A Meteorological Chronology to A.D. 1450, London: H.M.S.O., 1937, 13.) Note that Trajan Decius was emperor from 249 to 251. We conclude this refers to a classic comet.
312, near Verona, Italy
A pagan Emperor sees a cross in the sky
Emperor Constantine and others see a luminous cross in the sky. The emperor establishes Christianity in Rome.
Fig. 46: The vision of Emperor Constantine
Note that luminous crosses in the sky are not very unusual. They are caused by refraction phenomena similar to what one may observe by looking at a bright light through the mesh of a screen door. In this particular case the emperor is said to have seen luminous writing that read “In hoc signo vinces” (You will win through this Sign), which would eliminate the optical phenomenon as a simple explanation. However the writing may have been seen (or even heard) in a vision rather than an actual observation in the sky.
In his remarkable book, L’Atmosphère et les Grands Phénomènes de la Nature (Paris: Hachette 1905), Camille Flammarion gives many examples of similar phenomena caused by reflexions or refraction due to ice crystals or water droplets in the atmosphere. Whether the cross was a natural phenomenon or not, this case is so important that it deserves special comments. There are two main sources for the story. One comes from Eusebius, the other from Lactantius. They do not provide an exact location, and contain contradictions. (The later sources are historically not very valuable.)
Fig. 47: Cross-shaped atmospheric illusions
Eusebius described the same events in the life of Constantine in two separate books. In the earliest of these he does not refer to the cross in the sky, literally as if it had never happened. In the later book he tells that before Constantine marched to Rome to battle Maxentius, he and all his soldiers witnessed a cross in the sky. That night, when asleep, the emperor had a dream in which Christ instructed him to make a copy of the sign they had seen, for use in all future battles. Lactantius, on the other hand, did not mention the cross in the sky at all. Instead he wrote that Constantine, while in the vicinity of Rome and before the battle with Maxentius, was simply instructed in a dream to use a special symbol, not forever but in the battle at hand.
Eusebius wrote that the symbol consisted of a cross with the Christ monogram (the chi-roh) at the top. Lactantius wrote that the symbol was itself the chi-roh.
Constantine had already experienced a vision in 310 AD, as the appearance of the pagan god, Apollo, whom the emperor worshipped as a sun god. It is odd that he should have met gods from two opposing religions in the space of two years. The inference is that Constantine’s only real vision was in 310 AD, and that he or someone else recycled it for the conversion story of 312 AD. Constantine had already used the sign of the cross (even the Latin cross) on his coins before his conversion, in reference to the Sun.
353, Antioch (Antalaya), Syria
Amazing luminous cross
As Constantius the Victorious, proclaimed Gallus as Caesar, he saw a cross in the form of a column of light appear in the western sky over Antioch.
“After these things, the Emperor Constantius having created Gallus his kinsman Caesar, and given him his own name, sent him to Antioch in Syria, providing thus for the guarding of the eastern parts. When Gallus was entering this city, the Savior’s sign appeared in the East: for a pillar in the form of a cross seen in the heavens gave occasion of great amazement to the spectators.” (Ecc. Hist. 2.28.2)
Source: Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, Jacobite patriarch of Antioch: 1166-1199 A.D.), who took this story from Socrates (Ecclesiastical History, Book II).
384, Roman Empire: A pillar in the sky
“A terrible sign appeared in the sky, shaped like a pillar (columna). It was in the time of the Roman Emperor, Theodosius.” A number of atmospheric phenomena, or a comet, can produce this effect.
Source: Lycosthenes, op. cit., 279.
393 (or 390), Roman Empire
Brilliant globes, swarming like bees
A brilliant globe is observed close to Venus. Many others join in, “swarming like bees.” The first reference for this item is Bougard, Inforespace no. 22 (August 1975) p.34, quoting Lycosthenes Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon.
Further research shows that the primary source is historian Philostorgius, in his Ecclesiasticae Historiae (composed in 425 AD). He wrote that after Theodosius I returned to Rome following a victory over Clemens Maximus, there appeared “a new and strange star…which announced the coming of very great calamities upon the world.” It was first seen at midnight in the east and was said to be “large and bright, and in brilliance it was not much inferior to the morning star (…) A concourse of stars gathered around it on every side, like a swarm of bees.”
Later “the light of all the stars mingled together” and the object took on the appearance of a huge double-edged sword. It lasted for 40 days. Our conclusion: the object probably was a comet, which was actually visible in 390 AD.
Circa 523, Kent, Britain
Weird sky phenomena, drops of blood
“In his time strange sights were seen of Dragons, Lions and other furious wild Beasts Fighting in the Air. In the West of Kent it Rained Wheat, and soon after great Drops of Blood, upon which ensued extream Dearth…”
Scholar C. E. Britton comments: “Vaguely allocated to the reigh of Octa (ca. 513-533). Legendary.”
Here we have a further challenge, since nothing indicates that these events were correlated at all, or even happened at te same time. (Britton, C.E., A Meteorological Chronology to A.D. 1450, London: H.M.S.O., 1937.)
553, Clonfert, Ireland
Saint Brendan flies up into the sky
Another early instance of what would be called “abduction” today took place when “Brennain of Birra was seen ascending in a chariot into the sky this year.”
This refers to Saint Brendan (“Bréanainn”) of Clonfert (ca. 484 – ca. 578), an early Irish monastic saint sometimes believed to have sailed to America.
Source: The Annals of the Four Masters, historical chronicles compiled in the 17th century by four friars of the Abbey of Donegal in Bundrowes, near Bundoran. They are also known as The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland.
577, France
Mock suns, and a glittering star in the moon
“Thereafter, on the night of the third day of the Ides of November, while we were celebrating the vigil of the Holy Martin, there appeared to us a great wonder. A glittering star was seen to shine in the center of the Moon; above and below the Moon appeared other stars all near to it, and round about it was the circle which is wont to portend rain. We know not what these things signified.
“And often in this year we saw the Moon darkened, and before Christmastide there was a loud thunder. Moreover, there appeared around the sun the meteors which the country people also call suns, such as those described by me as visible before the calamity in Auvergne.
“It was declared that the sea had risen beyond its usual bounds, and many other signs were seen.”
Here again, the sightings are consistent with natural phenomena.
Source: Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Volume 23, trans. O. M. Dalton (Oxford, 1927), 198.
584, France, exact location unknown: A battle of lights
Many witnesses. Brilliant rays of light hitting one another in the sky.
Given the lack of details, some natural phenomena (such as an aurora borealis) could produce this effect. However we cannot completely reject the case on the basis of the information given, and the source is impeccable.
Source: Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, op. cit.
September 585, France, exact location unknown
Domes in the sky
“The kind of domes people are used to seeing” cross the sky rapidly. Here again we seem to have a tantalizing hint that widespread rumors existed about very unusual aerial objects, of round shape. However, a thorough check of the chronicles of Grégoire de Tours fails to disclose such a description: is there a translation error here, on the part of a usually reliable author?
Source: Inforespace 22 (August 1975): 35. M. Bougard quotes Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, op. cit.
610, Medina, Saudi Arabia Angel apparition to Islam’s prophet
This event concerns the apparition of angel Gabriel to 40-year old Mohammed, Islam’s prophet. Muhammad received his first revelation on the mountain of Hira outside Mecca, while he searched for solitude. At the time of the contact with the angel he first experienced great pain, and feared that he was going to die.
The first fraction of the Koran Muhammad received is believed to be the beginning of Sura 96:
“Recite in the name of your Lord, who created mankind from clots of blood. Recite, and your Lord will be bountiful.He who has taught by the pen taught mankind what was not known.”
One could argue that this event does not include any description of an aerial phenomenon, and thus does not belong in this compilation. However it does involve an entity from the sky (an angel) and an episode of contact with transmission of a message that has had a major impact on men’s beliefs – an impact that continues to this day. In that sense it epitomizes the complexity of “contact” claims that are an integral part of the phenomenon, both in a social sense and in the larger scope of the societal significance of the relationship between men and the higher worlds in which they believe.
Fig. 48: The apparition to Mohammed
14 January 616, China
A fir
eball kills 10 people among rebels
The History of the Sui Dynasty, 581-618 records a spectacular fireball that fell into a rebel’s camp, partly destroying it. This is interesting because many UFO accounts deal with enemies being frightened or persecuted by mysterious lights – such as when the Christians fought the Turks. This narrative leaves no doubt that the phenomenon had natural causes.
The Chinese document states, “A large shooting star like a bushel fell onto the rebel Lu Ming-yueh’s camp. It destroyed his wall-attacking tower and crushed to death more than 10 people.”
Source: Kevin Yau, Paul Weissman and Donald Yeomans, “Meteorite falls in China and some related human casualty events,” Meteoritics 29 (1994): 867.
After 618, China
Capture of a celestial ship – It flies away!
The Dong Tien Ji (Peeping on the Sky) says: “In the Tang Dynasty a celestial ship, over 50 feet long, was found and placed in the Ling De Hall. The ship gave out a metallic sound when struck, and was of very hard material which was rustproof.
Li Deyu, the Tang Prime Minister, cut over a foot of a slender, long stick of the ship and carved it into a figure of a Taoist priest. The Taoist figurine flew away and then returned. In the years of Emperor Daming, the figurine disappeared and the ship also flew away.”
Wonders in the Sky Page 32
