Page Content (OCR)
20 And in the year 919, “A thing like a burning torch was seen in the sky, and glistening balls like stars moved to and fro in the air over Hungary.” Another sighting that cannot be easily explained occurred in 1168: “A globe of fire was seen moving to and fro in the air on 20 March.” Some of the early accounts match up perfectly with today’s reports. In the year 1290, for example, the abbot and monks at Begeland Abbey in England observed a “flat, round, shining, silvery object” that flew over the abbey, causing “utmost terror.” As history marched forward into the Middle Ages, accounts of UFO sightings became more detailed. In 1322: “In the first hour of the night of November 4 there was seen in the sky over Uxbridge, Eng- land a pillar of fire the size of a small boat, pallid and livid in colour. It rose from the south, crossed the sky with slow and grave motions, 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 through the air.” In 1387, England experienced a wave of UFO activity when citi- zens observed “a fire in the sky, like a burning and revolving wheel, or round barrel of flame, emitting fire from above, and others in the shape of a long fiery beam.” On April 14, 1561, numerous residents of Nuremberg, Germany, saw hundreds of globes, cylinders, and other strange-shaped objects flying in darting patterns, as if fighting one another. The sighting lasted about an hour and was described by witnesses as a “very fright- ful spectacle.” An unknown artist recorded the event in a woodcarv- ing, which shows the strange fleet of flying objects, including a few actually crashing to the Earth. On August 7, 1566, Samuel Coccius of Basel, England, wrote that at sunrise “many large black globes were seen in the air, moving before UFOS AND ALIENS UFOS IN THE MIDDLES AGES