BC in such sources as the ancient Indian Mahabharata and the biblical Old Testament, descriptions of encounters with unusual creatures and objects are very often found. Ufologists interpret them as descriptions of aliens and their technology.
Curiously, with the onset of our era, the amount of more or less reliable information contained in various historical sources about UFOs and aliens decreases sharply. One gets the impression that aliens left our planet for 600 years and no longer openly interfered in the process of human development.
However, then some part of them probably decided to return, and in the era of the early Middle Ages, references to mysterious objects again begin to appear in historical sources.
Perhaps the insignificant amount of such information at that time is explained by the dominance of the church: a witness to any mysterious phenomenon could be accused of having intercourse with the devil, after which the narrator was faced with torture and a fire. This is confirmed by the fate of Giordano Bruno, who preached the idea of many inhabited worlds in the Universe and expressed sufficiently seditious thoughts for that time:
“Thus, I declare that there are infinite separate worlds like the Earth, which, like Pythagoras, I regard as a star similar in nature to the Moon, other stars and other planets that have no end, and that all these bodies are infinite worlds thus forming an invisible infinity in infinite space, and this is called an infinite universe …"
For such statements, on February 17, 1600, he was burned at the stake of the Inquisition.
In those centuries, there were no technical terms for describing UFOs, and often in eyewitness accounts they look like sea ships, "flying houses", as well as something mystical or devilish. In some countries of Western Europe, legends about mysterious phenomena have been preserved, which were usually called "wild hunting" or "night hunting" (when a mysterious "something" kidnapped people forever or then returned them, usually terribly disfigured).
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Information about the extraordinary events and incidents of the 7th-8th centuries was collected by the English monk Bede the Venerable. His book, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, provides interesting facts reminiscent of UFO flights:
664 AD “At night, at the cemetery of the monastery in Barking, near the Thames, when the sisters were singing psalms on the graves, they suddenly noticed a light from the sky descending on them like a huge canvas. Then the light rose, moved to the other side of the monastery and went into the heavenly heights. Such a bright light can eclipse the midday sun. The next morning a young man in the church reported that the rays penetrating through the cracks in the doors and windows seemed to carry the light of the past day”(Book 4, Chapter VII).
In the same year, for some reason, the corpse of a nun was kidnapped, and in a rather unusual way:
“… One night, before dawn, when a nun in Barking named Tortigat left her cell… a corpse wrapped in shroud, lighter than the Sun, began to rise up from the house where the sisters put him to rest. She quickly figured out what it was that went up. This vision of a pious body, noticed by her, rose farther and farther on ropes that shone brighter than gold, until it became imperceptible, disappearing into the open sky”(Book 4, Chapter IX).
690 A. D. In Saxony “… by heaven two English priests were killed and thrown into the Rhine. A huge ray of light reaching the sky followed their bodies floating on the river”(Book 5, Ch. X).
The enlightened monk emphasizes the unusualness of what happened - "were killed by heaven." In describing other cases of death of people, he usually indicates a fairly common cause of their death - "killed during a thunderstorm" or "killed by lightning."
The Laurissen Annals contains the following information:
776 year. The Saxons began to build a platform from which they stormed the church.
“But the Lord was kind as always. He overcame his pride, and on the same day there was an attack on Christians living near the church, and a vision appeared - the top of the church inside the fortress. She was seen outside these places, and many who live here to this day say that they saw the likeness of two huge red shields hanging over the church, and when the pagans saw this sign, they were thrown into confusion and fled in panic."
The events that are described in the ancient Japanese chronicle "Nihongi" belong to the same period of time:
637 A. D. "A large star swam from east to west, making a thunderous sound."
640 year. "On the seventh day of the second month of spring, the star entered the moon."
642 year. "In the fall, on the ninth day of the seventh month during the reign of the Empress Ame-Toe-Tokaro-Ikashi-khi-Tarasi-Hime, the invited star entered the moon."
661 years. “In the autumn of the first day of the eighth month, the crown prince was with the remains of the empress … That evening, on the top of Mount Asakura, there was a demon in a large hat, watching the funeral rituals. All the people, seeing him, exclaimed in amazement."
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of Gamar mentions fire from heaven, which destroyed an entire settlement:
680. At this time Koldingham burned down. "He was set on fire by fire from heaven, which was sent down by the will of God."
Unfortunately, the details of this tragedy are not reported, but such cases in England, when forests, crops, as well as cities and villages were burned out, occurred more than once - in 1032, 1048, 1067, 1078. All these calamities are associated with a rotating fire sign in heaven.
Geoffrey Gamer wrote in 1067:
“This year, indeed, many people have seen the fire-like sign. For a year, it burned and burned furiously, having approached the Earth for some time, it brightly illuminated it. Then, spinning, he withdrew upward, and then sank deep into the sea. In many places, he burned forests and fields. Nobody knew what it was, or what this sign predicted. In Northumberland County this fire has been shown for two seasons."
The Brothers Grimm in "German Traditions" cite a strange story that took place in 1125. From the description, we can conclude that someone (clearly not a person) with the help of a flamethrower for some reason set fires to forests and fields in Germany:
“This year the fiery man roamed the mountains like a ghost. It was midnight. A man passed from one birch to another and lit them. The guard said that he himself was like a blazing flame. He did it for only three nights. Georg Miltenburger … said: “When he first appeared on Sunday night, between 11 and 12 o'clock, a man set fire to everything around me near my house. He passed from boundary to boundary, and after midnight he suddenly disappeared. He instilled fear in many people, because from his nose and mouth he had fire, scattering at a terrible speed in all directions.
There is a description of unusual objects in the "History of England", which was written by Mathieu Paris (XIII century):
1077 year. April 9. This year, on Palm Sunday, at about 6 o'clock, a huge star appeared near the Sun in the completely serene sky of J.
1104. A large cigar-shaped object was observed in the sky of England, around which several glowing disks circled.
1200 A. D. They say that “the Lord inscribed in the heavens a warning message to the Earth … and everyone fell on their faces, praying that it would not foretell any troubles. Having descended over Jerusalem, it hovered over the altar of St. Simon on Calvary, where Jesus Christ was crucified."
1234 year. “At midnight of the Lord's Circumcision, in the clear cloudless sky, on which the stars and the eight-day moon were shining, a large ship of wonderful color, graceful shape and good equipment suddenly appeared. Some of the monks of the monastery of St. Alban … who had watched him for a long time, it seemed that its casing was painted. Then he started to disappear."
In 1235, the Japanese commander Ioritsuma and his warriors saw glowing objects in the form of saucers that appeared above them, which described circles and loops in the sky throughout the night.
In the "Chronicle of Lanerkost" (XIV century), which tells about remarkable events in England and Scotland during the reign of Edward III (1312-1377), ambiguous incidents are also described:
1289 year. Old Shepherd John Fraunces, instead of going to church, tending the flock in Dalton Forest near Richmond (Britain). The spirits of the air, shapeless gnomes, appeared, and they began to strike him, from which his whole body ached. They tried to lift him up, but he firmly clung to the ground, turning his thoughts to the Passion of God, until the spirits, finally realizing the futility of their efforts, flew away. He dragged himself home, lay in bed for a week and told all his friends about what had happened.
1295 year. On July 27, red shields with the coats of arms of the King of England appeared in the sky of Scotland … A great many of them occupied the entire sky.
Belgian Jesuit monk Albert d'Orville observed an unusual phenomenon in Tibet, in Lhasa:
“November 1661. Something moving in the sky caught my attention. At first I thought it was a bird of an unknown breed that lived in this country. But as it approached, it took the shape of a doubled Chinese hat, flying and spinning slowly, as if weightless, on the invisible wings of the wind.
Surely it was a miracle, magic. This object, passing over the city, as if in order to admire it, made two circles and disappeared into a misty haze. No matter how hard I strained my eyes, I could no longer see him. I wondered if the altitude I was at had played a trick on me, however, noticing a lama nearby, I asked him if he had seen it.
Nodding his head, he told me: “My son, what you have seen is witchcraft. Creatures from other worlds have been sailing the oceans of space for centuries. They brought about the illumination of the mind to the first people inhabiting the Earth. They forbade all violence and taught love for each other. However, their teaching was like seeds thrown on a stone and did not germinate. We accept these light beings well, and they often come down near our monasteries, teaching us and revealing things that were lost many centuries ago during the cataclysms that changed the face of the world."
A similar object was observed on August 5, 192B during an expedition to the mountains of Tibet by the famous artist and explorer Nicholas Roerich. In The Heart of Asia, he wrote:
“And we notice something shiny moving from north to south at high altitude. Three powerful binoculars were brought from the tents. We see a voluminous spheroidal body sparkling in the sun, clearly visible in the blue sky, □ but moving very quickly. Then we notice how it changes direction more to the southwest and hides behind the Humboldt snow chain."
Renwart Kisat, the clerk of the city of Lucerne, left a certificate of the kidnapping:
“In the summer of 1572, the month of November 15 on the 15th day, my fellow countryman by the name of Hans Buchmann, also called Krissbühler von Romerschwil, an employee of the Rotterdam office, who was already 50 years old, brought to my attention that one day he, having many assignments from the authorities, suddenly disappeared into no one knows where. Four weeks later, word came from the missing person that he was in Milan. Finally, at the Meeting of the next year, 1573 (February 2, that is, two and a half months after his disappearance), he returned home, having lost his hair on his head, beard and even eyebrows; while his face and head were smashed and covered with abrasions. As soon as the authorities found out about this, they conducted a special inquiry, which I witnessed."
In the Latin manuscript of Amplefort Abbey (England) it is said that "one day in 1290 a huge oval silvery body, like a disk, appeared over the heads of the frightened monks, which slowly flew over them, causing great horror."
In 1490, in Ireland, a silvery disc-shaped object flew over the rooftops several times, leaving a long trail. During its passage, the bell tore off the bell.
Flying objects in the form of shields or discs were also observed: in 1133 over Japan, in 1209 over Bailand Abbey in England, in 1553 over Stockholm, in 1676 over Tuscany.
Cigar-shaped objects were noted in 783 over Telkaun (England), in 848 and 1527 over France, in 1619 - over Lake Uri (Switzerland).
In 934, a strange object was observed in China, which repeatedly changed shape in flight, and in 1015 in Japan, they saw how from two small flying objects several luminous balls of smaller sizes flew out.
There are also known examples when several flying objects were combined into one, as was the case in 989 and 1423 over Japan, in 1167 over England, and in 1699 in the Avignon region (France). In these cases, flying objects emitted rays.
In 1517, in the logbook of one of the ships of the squadron of the conquistador Juan de Grijalva, located near the Yucatan Peninsula, it was recorded that a strange object appeared above the masts of the ships, which then hovered for 3 hours over the village of Kuotzakoalka, throwing out bright rays.
In 1520, a large ball flew over the city of Erfurt (Germany), accompanied by two small balls, and a rotating (!) Ray emanated from the large ball.
The trajectories of the observed objects were different. So, for example, in 557 over China, in 1423 over Japan and in 1639 over Boston, they moved in a zigzag manner. In other cases, they stopped and hovered for a while, as was the case in 905 over China, in 1433 over Nice, in 1551 over Lisbon and in 1571 over Rome, which Pope Pius V observed, in 1606 over the ancient capital of Japan, Kyoto, and in 1636 over Leipzig.
In 1461, an unknown object flying over the city of Arros (France) suddenly began to move in a spiral.
In 1566, luminous spherical objects performed various maneuvers over Münster (Germany).
An interesting case was observed in 1646 in the city of Cambridge (Britain), where, in front of the audience, a rotating fireball first landed outside the city, and then "took off and rushed away with great speed."
There are many known cases when groups of flying objects were observed. But the behavior of groups of unknown objects looked especially strange, the maneuvers of which gave the impression of a confrontation between them. Here are some examples of such "battles".
In the summer of 1355, many people watched over England the appearance of a large number of objects glowing with blue and red light. They moved across the sky in different directions, and the impression was created that they entered into a mutual struggle. Then the "army" of red objects began to defeat the blue ones, which hastily descended to the ground.
In April 1561, many flying "plates" and "crosses" and two huge cylinders appeared over Nuremberg, from which groups of balls flew out. At the same time, numerous spheres and discs were observed, colored in red, blue and black. All of them staged a kind of air battle in the sky, horrifying the entire population of the city. After an hour, the objects began to descend and fall to the ground, destroying each other.
In August 1566 over Basel (Germany) large "inclined pipes" were observed in the sky, from which balls emerged. At the same time, a large number of black spherical bodies were seen nearby flying at high speed towards the Sun. After a while, they made a half-turn and began to collide with each other, as if depicting a battle. Some of the objects turned fiery red and seemed to "eat" each other.
Preserved images of unknown objects observed in the sky during the Middle Ages: in the Verdun Museum - an object in the form of a cigar, observed in 1034; in Stockholm Cathedral - five discs that appeared in 1535; in the Zurich City Hall - disc-shaped objects that patrolled in 1547 and 1558; in Hamburg - a large fireball that flew in 1697.
Engravings have also survived, which depict the massive appearance of spherical objects in 1561 over Nuremberg and in 1566 over Basel and Münster.
