Wonders in the Sky (49 page)

30 November 1660, Ilford, Essex, England
Dogfight in the sky

Very early in the morning two men saw a fiery cloud in the southwest. From under it appeared two bright objects as large as the moon, which began a dogfight in the atmosphere. One of them eventually grew dimmer while the other increased in size and remained in view for two hours, “a great part of which time they saw streaming from it…streams of fire and streams of blood.” It then diminished until it was no larger than an ordinary star.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus
(1661).

266.

1 Dec. 1660, Hounsditch, England: Unknown moon

At 5 A.M. an inhabitant of Hounsditch saw an unexplained, bright object the size of the moon in the eastern sky.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus
(1661).

267.

1661, Goult, Vaucluse, France
A luminous figure heals a sick man

Antoine de Nantes, a messenger from Goult, who was gravely ill, caught sight of a marvelously beautiful child who hovered above a fiery halo. When this figure vanished, the man found himself fully healed. A chapel was consecrated two years later and “miracles became commonplace after that date.”

 

Source: Louis Leroy,
Histoire des pélerinages de la Sainte Vierge en France
(Paris, 1873), 30.

268.

February 1661, Darken, Surrey, England
Flying cathedrals

A “discreet sober gentleman” saw a strange cloud in the evening sky, and two objects he compares to cathedrals or churches, “having upon it diverse goodly Pinnacles, and each of them a long streamer flying upwards upon it, and as he beheld it, he thought it grew up to a greater splendor and glory.” The other object was darker.

After a while, the large one emitted puffs of vapor and disappeared, while the smaller one grew and became brighter. The witness was called into his house and could not observe the end of the phenomenon.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus
(1661).

269.

20 March 1661, Canterbury, England
A Star with an opening

A very large “star” with an “opening” underneath, from which issued streams of fire was seen for thirty minutes.

 

Source:
MIRABILIS ANNUS SECUNDUS; or, a second year of prodigies. Being a true and impartial collection of many strange signes and apparitions, which have this last year been seen in the heavens, and in the earth, and in the waters. Together with many remarkable accidents and judgements befalling divers persons, according to the most exact information that could be procured from the best hands; and now published as a warning to all men speedily to repent, and to prepare to meet the Lord, who gives us these signs of his coming…
(London, 1662).

270.

April 1661, Chard, Somersetshire, England
Multiple Objects

Several witnesses saw a narrow, long dusty cloud from which three very bright spots descended and joined.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus Secundus
(1662).

271.

April 1661, Between Ilford and Romford, England
Maneuvering light

About 10 P.M. Captain Chelmford, of Ipswich, and another man riding to London saw a fiery light with a green-white glow that changed direction. It approached at great speed, emitting light beams. When it was exactly overhead it suddenly changed direction again and disappeared at the horizon. Upon arriving in London, the two travelers had a notarial deed drawn up, recording their experience.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus Secundus
(1662).

272.

23 April 1661, Bednall-Green, England
Pillar containing lights

People saw a great pillar of fire with smaller objects (compared to “burning coals”) within it, and at 10 o'clock that night “several persons near Pickadilly saw strange fiery clouds and other objects very terrible to the spectators, from some of whose mouths we received the information”.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus Secundus
(1662).

273.

29 June 1661, Eastberry, Berkshire, England
Dark objects

The Sun was obscured by a great number of dark balls passing in front of it. Other objects looked like crosses.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus Secundus
(1662).

274.

October 1661, Bristol, England: Figures in a “cloud”

A cloud was seen rising out of the river. It opened up three times, revealing various figures inside.

 

Source:
Mirabilis Annus Secundus
(1662).

275.