Wonders in the Sky (90 page)

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 fireball 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.