Imagine you woke up one morning to find the sky is full of circular, triangular, and cylindrical objects darting to and fro in an apparent struggle for aerial supremacy. You might immediately think that you were witnessing an alien invasion. Maybe you’d assume you were hallucinating. But, imagine this happened while you were living in the year 1561. That’s precisely what happened to the people of Nuremberg, Germany. The 1561 Sky Battle, also known as the 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg, excited the imaginations of those who saw it. Whereas our cultural conditioning would lead us to assume it was a fleet of UFOs, the locals on that day thought it was a warning of the impending judgment of God. Regardless of the interpretation, the event is a rather curious one that lacks an obvious explanation. At least, it lacks 100% proof of any of the prevailing theories.
The 1561 Sky Battle
On April 14, 1561, the people of Nuremberg awoke to an inexplicable site in the skies above. According to a broadsheet written by local publisher Hans Glaser, the phenomenon lasted for over an hour. He recounted that the sky was full of colorful shapes that sped across their field of view and engaged one another in combat. Finally, after much fighting, these shapes fell to the earth with smoke and fire. As was typical for his day, Glaser put a religious interpretation on the experience. He claimed that they had witnessed a vision from God, and the message was clear: God’s judgment was coming.
The Theories
Obviously, one of the leading theories for this event is the theory that it was a mass UFO sighting. However, that is not the only theory employed by those who read Glaser’s broadsheet. Other ideas include more common celestial phenomena, including meteor showers or comet sightings. Both of which are believable explanations for this event. The generally accepted theory for what happened that day is a Parhelion or Sun Dogs. The rare visual distortion of the sun can create visions that are similar to the experience described by Hans. There is always the possibility that Hans entirely made it up. We don’t have any photographic evidence, nor do we have any corroboration from other writers of the day.
Conclusion
We want this story to be about aliens. But it’s hard to say much conclusively about the 1561 Sky Battle. It does seem an awful lot like far-off civilizations meeting in Earth’s atmosphere for intergalactic warfare. There are also plenty of perfectly acceptable explanations for this event. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough information to speak with certainty about the event. But, yeah, we’re pretty sure it’s aliens.
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Sources
1561 Celestial Phenomenon – Wikipedia
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