Wonders in the Sky

by Jacques Vallee

  German researcher Von Ludwiger adds: “What the fishermen saw was a plate with a dome (man’s hat) orange in color (like the rising moon) which hovered motionless for a long time and acted on the witnesses as if they became sick from strong radiation. (…) Erasmus Francisci hesitated to believe this account, because he could not find a suitable explanation: ‘I read it at that time in the usual printed newspaper. But, to tell the truth, I didn’t believe in that story, and I thought the fishermen had fished it out of the air or from a deceived imagination….’”

  Francisci reported this account because between 1665 and 1680 several battles took place between the Swedes and the Prussians, and the spectacle could be given the meaning of a sign for an imminent war. Francisci states (p. 625): “After the sea was colored with so much blood after that time, the affair now seems to me believable. What the disk-like thing means to the good city shouldn’t be hard to guess, if one remembers how the tower of St. Nicolai Church was destroyed in 1670 during wartime….’”

  Fig. 24: “Der Wunder-Reiche”

  There is no question that the account is authentic, although the date may be incorrect by a few days. The title page of Francisi’s book is given on the next page, as preserved in Berlin’s Staatsbibliothek. The authors are indebted to researchers Yannis Deliyannis and Isaac Koi for tracking down important details of the case. After publication of von Ludwiger’s book, some skeptics argued the observation could be accounted for by a mirage.

  Source: Illobrand von Ludwiger, Best UFO Cases – Europe (Las Vegas, Nevada: National Institute for Discovery Science, 1998), quoting Erasmus Francisci (1680), and Ordinari und Postzeitungen (No. 65) of April 10th, 1665. He also quotes from E. Buchner, Medien, Hexen, Geisterseher (16 Bis 18 JH), 42-43 (Munich: Albert Langen, 1926); Francisci, Erasmus. Der wunder-reiche Ueberzug unserer Nider-Welt/Order Erd-umgebende (Nürnberg, 1680).

  281.

  26 May 1666, Tokyo (Edo), Japan: Flying figure

  A mysterious light “20 feet long” shaped like a man flew towards the East. This is another example of a tantalizing report from Asia, about which we need more detailed information.

  Source: Morihiro Saito, The Messenger from Space.

  282.

  20 January 1667, Gjov, Faeroe Islands

  Luminous visitor

  Jacob Olsen, 24, was awakened by a luminous visitor who healed him. He saw him again later, coming from the sky.

  Source: Jacobsen Debes, Færoæ & Færoa Reserata (1673).

  283.

  15 November 1667, Mittelfischach, Germany

  Sign of wonder

  An engraving preserves the sighting of a “terrible sign of wonder” that took place during sunrise, and was seen for several hours in the sky over the town of Mittelfischach.

  The image shows the sun shining through a break in the clouds while a group of people watch a formation of round lights. There is a scene of battle in the sky, and three crosses among dark nebulosities. The village is shown in detail to the left, with its church and a few houses.

  Source: Abriss des Erschrecklichen wunderzeichens, so sich den 15. Novembr. 1667 beim dorff Mittelfischach am Firmament des Himmels bey auff gehender Sonn etlich stunden lang sehen lassen. [s.l.] (1667). [Goethe Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt-am-Main, Einblattdr. G.Fr. 11]

  Fig. 25: Mittelfischach phenomenon

  284.

  Late December 1667, Bayárcal, Spain

  Procession of lights

  Bayárcal was a focus of attention for the inquisition. Among many testimonies relating to strange lights was that of Juan Muñoz, a tailor from Santander. In his sworn statement he said that in 1667, around Christmas time, at midnight, he saw a cross, behind which there was a banner, followed by four lights like wicks that flashed on and off. He supposed it to be the priest carrying the Viaticum (the Christian Eucharist given to a person in danger of death), though it seemed to be too bright.

  As the lights moved, and he was also walking home, he reached a point some fifteen steps from them. He arrived home, quite anxious about what he had seen, but before closing the door he turned around to take another look. He then saw the lights pass in front on the church. Too frightened to investigate what the luminous thing was, he shut the door and swore he wouldn’t even tell anyone about what he had seen. However, when he heard other neighbors relate they had seen the phenomenon, he told them what he had witnessed. They all agreed that such things had been seen many times before, and that the only possible explanation was that God sent them as signs to commemorate the lives of martyrs from the area.

  The fact that Muñoz was new to the village and had never heard of the phenomenon was taken as proof that such things were not a mere figment of the imagination.

  Processions of lights were seen in many Spanish villages, and in other European countries. Sometimes they would be seen over the rooftops, but usually at ground level, and could range in size from tiny to several meters across.

  Source: Francisco A. Hitos, Mártires de la Alpujarra en la Rebelión de los Moriscos (1568). Republished by Apostolado de la Prensa, Madrid (1935).

  285.

  April 1670, countryside near London, England

  Jane Lead’s contact

  An English woman named Jane Lead has her first contact with a bright cloud with a brilliant woman inside. Jane Lead was a British Christian mystic who lived from 1623 to 1704. Information about her early life is sparse but her family is known to have hailed from Norfolk. Born as Jane Ward in 1623, she married William Lead (or Leade) at the age of 21, and had four daughters by him.

  According to her own writings, during a dance at a Christmas party, when she was 15 years old, Lead heard a miraculous disembodied voice. It said “Cease from this, I have another dance to lead thee in, for this is vanity.” She interpreted this as a sign that she should devote her life to a spiritual cause, and in later life this decision led her into the study of theology, philosophy and alchemy.

  In April 1670, as Lead reflected about the nature of Wisdom,

  There came upon me an overshadowing bright Cloud, and in the midst of it the Figure of a Woman, most richly adorned with transparent Gold, her hair hanging down and her Face as the terrible Crystal for brightness, but her Countenance was sweet and mild. At which sight I was somewhat amazed…

  From this moment on, Jane Lead’s life would be full of visions. Years later she would write about actual sightings that she had and several abductions by a group of beings who, by her own admission, were neither angels nor demons. (As noted by Jesse Glass in an article on Jane Lead’s mystic experiences, she often uses the term ‘Magia’ when referring to them). She calls her abduction experiences Transports throughout her diaries.

  Source: Works of Jane Lead, especially her book A Fountain of Gardens. “Printed and Sold by J. Bradford, near Crowder’s Wall,” London 1696. Four Volumes. The original edition is very rare but most of Jane Lead’s works can be found faithfully reproduced in on-line archives.

  286.

  18 August 1671, Regensburg, Germany

  Signs in the clouds

  Signs in the sky: An engraving shows an amazed crowd staring at ships in the sky, various mythical animals and armies arrayed for battle. This engraving is cut from a book, The Relationis historicae semestralis vernalis continuatio (1672 edition) by Jacobus Francus and Sigismundus Latomus.

  Fig. 26: Regensburg phenomenon

  Source: Wunderzeichen, zu Regenspurg gesehen am 18. Augusti 1671. [Goethe Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt-am-Main, Einblattdr. G.Fr. 12], engraving cut from Francus, Jacobus & Latomus, Sigismundus. Relationis historicae semestralis vernalis continuatio (1672). University of Frankfurt, Collection of Gustav Freytag (Einblattdr. G.Fr. 12).

  287.

  25 January 1672, Paris Observatory, France

  Unknown planetoid orbiting Venus

  The great astronomer and planetary observer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was director of Paris Observatory at the time, recorded the presence of an object that seeme
d to be a satellite of Venus. He would not announce this discovery until he saw the object again, in 1686.

  This supposed satellite was later named “Neith.”

  Source: “The Problematical Satellite of Venus,” in The Observatory 7 (1884): 222-226.

  288.

  8 February 1672, off Cherbourg, France

  Triple sky ships

  Captain Isaac Guiton reports that a “star” came down; it split into two “ships”, while a third one appeared later. The original reads: “An hour past midday, by the calmest weather in the world, appeared to us a star over our heads, about fifteen feet long. From there it went and fell to the north, leaving some smoke that formed into two ships, each with two lights and the mizzen and their large sails folded, both sailing into the south. The one on the north side was larger than the southernmost one. And as they sailed thus, they separated by about four feet, and another ship formed in the middle, seemingly bigger than the others, all black, and turning its bow to the north without any sails, yet equipped with its masts and ropes, as if resting at anchor. This seemed to us to take over half an hour. After which, they vanished to the south without leaving any trace…”

  Source: Cited by Michel Bougard in La chronique des OVNI (1977), 96.

  289.

  16 November 1672, Tokyo, Japan

  Flying lantern

  An object resembling a lantern flew away to the east.

  Source: Takao Ikeda, UFOs over Japan.

  290.

  1674, Japan, exact location unknown

  Fast-flying “dark cloud”

  A dark, elongated cloud flies “like an arrow,” on a N to SE trajectory. By definition, meteors are luminous, often described as “fiery.” The description given here, of a dark object, seems to exclude the meteoritic explanation.

  Source: Brothers Magazine I, 1, no original source quoted.

  291.

  23 May 1676, London, England: Bedroom visitation

  In a diary entry, spiritual writer Jane Lead describes a visit from three mysterious figures.

  “I saw one as in a Figure of a sprightly Youth, presenting himself near my Bedside, which amazed me, and I was afraid to take knowledge of him, who made out to me, as if he would draw my Aspect to him, but I could not find any Power for Speech with him. This disappearing, another in taller Stature, and more Manly Countenance, drew upon me, seeming to desire Familiarity with me; and then I looked when this Appearance would have spoke, but it was passive, and silent, only pleasant in its Countenance, who on a sudden withdrew. Then again was a presentation of a Person in a middle Stature, comely, sweet, and amiable for attraction; yet I being bounded in my Spirit, was hindered: otherwise I could have run with my Spirit into him.”

  While this apparition could be interpreted as an effect of schizophrenia this report would be seen as classic “bedroom visitation” by aliens in the context of today’s abduction literature.

  Source: The Works of Jane Lead, op. cit.

  292.

  16 July 1676, London, England

  Fiery object, a globe of light

  Spiritual writer Jane Lead witnessed an object in the sky that she took to be “the eye of God.” She wrote “This Morning…there appeared to me an Azure blue Firmament, so Oriental as nothing of this, in this Visible Orb could parallel with it. Out of the midst hereof was a most wonderful Eye, which I saw Sparkling, as with Flaming Streams from it. Which I am not able to Figure out, after that manner, in which it did present it self unto me. But according to this Form it was, as much as I am able to give an account of it, it was thus, or after this manner. There was a Flaming Eye in the midst of a Circle, and round about it a Rainbow with all variety of Colours, and beyond the Rainbow in the Firmament, innumerable Stars all attending this Flaming Eye.”

  Jane’s style is as difficult and archaic as that of any 17th century mystic, but what she seems to be describing is a luminous or fiery (“sparkling…flaming”) lenticular (“eye-shaped”) object that flew over London on a sunny day (“the blue firmament”). The object emitted rays or jets (“flaming streams”) and seemed to move within a wider rainbow-colored circle, perhaps accompanied by smaller objects which looked like stars. Her drawing shows an oval or eye-like thing emitting five shafts of flame or light, enclosed by a thick circle surrounded by stars. The circle’s interior is labeled “The Globe of Light,” suggesting something more substantial than a mere ‘ring’ or ‘rainbow.’

  Fig. 27: Jane Lead’s vision

  Source: The Works of Jane Lead, op. cit.

  293.

  20 Sept. 1676, Uffington Fields, England: Wavy dart

  A fiery ‘meteor’ in the shape of a dart moved with a wavy vibrating motion. At 7 P.M., according to Morton, an “unusual meteor” was seen by residents of Northamptonshire. Mr. Gibbon of Peterborough said that

  “The stem at a distance appear’d about a foot and half in length and with a narrow stream of light as if were a String of Cord affix’d to it. It had a wav’d or vibrated motion. Its duration about a minute.”

  Mr. Gibbon allegedly first saw this apparition at the zenith as it made its way toward Uffington Fields.

  Source: John Morton, The Natural History of Northamptonshire; with some account of the antiquities (London, 1712), 348.

  294.

  22 March 1677, London, England

  Assaulted by unknown entities

  Spiritual writer Jane Lead wrote that during the night she had been “cast as into a magical Sleep, where I saw my self carried into a Wilderness.” There she found herself in a peaceful, natural environment. Before she could enjoy these circumstances, however, a being that she had seen before and two other female entities “did make a kind of Assault upon me; but one of the Females was more fierce, and did give my outward Skin a prick, as with a sharp Needle. Upon which I called for Angelical aid to succour me, or else too hard they would be. Whereupon I was parted from them, and saw them in that place no more…”

  Lead writes that after this vision, before waking up in bed, she was told that she needn’t worry, that it would not happen to her again.

  Source: The Works of Jane Lead, op. cit.

  295.

  30 December 1677, at sea West of Granada, Spain

  Unknown “star”

  Pierre Boutard, an officer aboard the ship La Maligne notes in the logbook that “on Thursday the thirtieth day of December 1677 in the morning about 4 hours, we have seen a star in the direction of northwest ¼ west, ending southeast ¼ east, but carrying (such) a great light that all on board thought there was widespread fire, but it was accompanied by over 200 rays carrying such a light, that we believed we were all lost. We dropped anchor about 9 or 10 in the morning in the small bay of Grenada.”

  Source: Michel Bougard, La chronique des OVNI (1977), 97.

  296.

  9 February 1678, London, England

  Landing of a large ship

  In a diary entry entitled A Transport, Jane Lead writes:

  “In the Morning after I was awaked from Sleep, upon a sudden I was insensible of any sensibility as relating to a corporeal Being, and found my self as without the clog of an Earthly Body, being very sprightly and airy in a silent place, where some were beside my self, but I did not know them by their Figures, except one, who went out, and came in again: and there was no speaking one to another, but all did set in great silence.”

  Lead’s ordeals could not be closer to the situation of a modern abductee: She is woken up in a disoriented trance-like state, possibly confusing reality with a dream or a recent half-forgotten memory; around her are ‘figures’ she does not know, except for one; there is an eerie silence; next, Lead recalled seeing a gold-colored craft “come down” to “a pretty distance” from where she was.

  “It was in the form of a large Ship” with four golden wings. The ship “came down with the greatest swiftness as is imaginable.” She asked some of the figures beside her if they could see what she could, and mysteriously they said they couldn’t!
No doubt puzzled by their answer, Jane looked again and saw herself in front of the others, “leaping and dancing and greatly rejoicing to meet it.”

  Bar the detail about a third-person view of herself when the ship landed, this is the kind of account given by people whose cases fill countless UFO books today, and whose stories are often taken at face value.

  It is not sufficient to accuse abductees of confabulation and of sharing science-fiction fantasies because the same ‘fantasies’ have been reported and believed for hundreds of years, since long before the popularisation of the genre. Was Lead’s vision a muddled memory of an earlier experience?

  Lead’s diary entry of February 9th concludes: “But when I came up to it [the Ship], then it did as suddenly go up again, withdrawing out of sight, unto the high Orb from whence it came. After which I found my self in my Body of sense, as knowing I had been ranging in my Spirit from it for a while, that I might behold this great thing.”

  Source: The Works of Jane Lead, op.cit.

  297.

  17 September 1680, Lisbon, Portugal

  Landing of a hairy occupant

  A large black cloud-like mass landed in a field, releasing a huge hair-covered being that appeared – and disappeared.

  Source: A photocopy of the pamphlet, written by Julio Alberto de la Hinojosa, was reproduced in its entirety in Fenómenos Celestes en el Pasado: Siglos VIII al XIX, published by the Centro de Estudios Interplanetarios, Barcelona, 1995.

  298.

  17 November 1684, Saint Aubin, Brittany, France

  Tear-shaped object

  About 10 A.M. a priest from Lannion saw “a flame in the shape of a teardrop, as big as one’s hand, coming down from the sky. Its motion was extremely slow, for it took no less than seven to eight minutes to reach the horizon. It seemed a bit bluer. Its tail threw off sparks, and it was on the opposite side from the sun.”