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In the next century, in 1322, we have this report of what seems to have been a rocket: "In the first hour of the night of November 4th, there was seen in the sky over Uxbridge, England, a pillar of fire the size of a small boat, pallid, and livid in color. It rose from the south, crossed the sky with a slow and grave motion and went north. Out of the front of the pillar, a fervent red flame burst forth with great beams of light. Its speed increased, and it flew thro' the air. ... Many beholders saw it in collision, and there came blows as of a fearful combat, and sounds of crashes were heard at a noticeably. Here is an account from 776 A.D.: "Those watching outside in that place, of whom many still live to this very day, say they beheld the likeness of two large shields, reddish in color in motion above the church, and when the pagans who were outside saw this sign, they were at once thrown into confusion and terrified with great fear they began to flee from the castle." This episode; part of an old chronicle, was brought to light by W.R. Drake. So frequent do UFO reports seem to have been in the very early Middle Ages that laws came on the statute books which imposed a penalty on anybody travelling in an airship! A manuscript by Agobard, quoted by Jacques Vallee in his Anatomy of a Phenomena, informs us that some astronauts landed at Lyons. They made the mistake of admitting they were wizards. A mob killed them and threw their bodies into rivers. Indeed, UFO reports go back to Roman times and perhaps even before. Consider this account from 99 B.C.: "When C. Murius and L. Valerius were consuls in Tarquinia ... towards sunset, a round object, like a globe, a round or circular shield, took its path in the sky from west to east" Or again in 90 B.C.: "At Aenarie, while Livius Troso was promulgating the laws at the beginning of the Italian war ... at sunrise, there came a terrific noise in the sky, and a globe of fire appeared burning in the north. ... In the territory of Spoletum, a globe of fire, of golden color, fell to the earth, gyrating. It then seemed to increase in size, rose from the earth and ascended into the sky, where it obscured the disk of the sun, with its brilliance. It revolved toward the eastern quadrant of the sky." In 42 B.C.: "Something like a sort of weapon, or missile, rose with a great noise from the earth and soared into the sky." (There have been many modem reports of UFOs landing, and then flying away.) The Roman reports quoted above are derived from the Prodigia of Julius Obsequens, a writer thought to have lived in the 4th century A.D. "At Lanupium, a remarkable spectacle of a fleet of ships was seen in the air." The date was 170 B.C. Of course, a mirage may have been the cause. Not enough details are given. A similar mirage may or may not have accounted for a citing in 80 A.D.: "When the Roman emperor, Agricola, was in Scotland, wonderous flames were seen in the skies over Caledon wood, all one winter night. William of Newburgh's Chronicle. distance." The chronicler here is Robert of Reading. We should note that meteors cannot accelerate The following accounts are taken from a medieval writer, Conrad Wolffhart, called Lycothenes. Some may be borrowed from Obsequens.