Basel 1566 — the black spheres before the sun

OVERVIEW

A series of mass sightings of celestial phenomena occurred above Basel in 1566. The Basel pamphlet of that year, written by the historian Samuel Coccius, describes unusual sunrises and sunsets and numerous red and black balls that 'fought' together in the sky before the rising sun. Coccius reported it as a religious event; it was one of many 15th- and 16th-century leaflets on 'miracles' and 'sky spectacles'.

HISTORY

According to Coccius, on 27 and 28 July and 7 August 1566 many witnesses in Basel saw three phenomena: an unusual sunrise, a total lunar eclipse with a red sun rising, and a cloud of black spheres in front of the sun. On 27 July the sun lost its radiance, shrank to the size of the full moon and 'seemed to weep tears of blood'; the next morning it lit the houses and streets as if everything were blood-red and fiery. At dawn on 7 August 'we saw large black spheres coming and going with great speed and precision before the sun', many of them fiery red, which soon crumbled and went out. The broadsheet was printed in Basel that year and later included in the Wickiana collection in Zürich.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The report has been discussed by historians and meteorologists. Some ufologists interpret it as a sky battle between unidentified flying objects; Coccius himself reported it as a religious event.

VISITING

The pin marks the old town of Basel.