Celestial Phenomenon Over Nuremberg Incident (1561)
The Celestial Phenomenon Over Nuremberg incident, which occurred on April 14, 1561, remains one of the most intriguing and enigmatic events in the annals of history. The remarkable event unfolded in the skies above the city of Nuremberg, located in present-day Germany, and was witnessed by its inhabitants who described the scene as an aerial battle involving variously shaped and colored objects.
As the city awoke that morning, the skies appeared to be the stage for an extraordinary spectacle. Citizens were greeted by an array of celestial objects, including crosses, globes, tubes, and crescents, each exhibiting vibrant colors such as red, blue, and black. The phenomenon persisted for about an hour, with the objects seemingly engaged in a fierce battle. Following the confrontation, a large, black, spear-like object appeared in the sky, further adding to the mystery.
Hans Glaser, a local printer and publisher, documented the event in a broadsheet news article, which included a vivid woodcut illustration. The article, printed in both High German and Low German, provides a rare firsthand account of the phenomenon, capturing the astonishment and confusion experienced by the people of Nuremberg.
A German broadsheet was essentially an early form of printed news or public announcement. Picture a large single sheet of paper covered with illustrations, headlines, and text describing noteworthy events—anything from local disasters to political developments or remarkable happenings in the skies above. These sheets were posted in public spaces, sold by street hawkers, and passed from person to person, serving as a quick and straightforward means of spreading information before modern newspapers or mass media existed.
“In the morning of April 14, 1561, at daybreak between 4 and 5 a.m., a dreadful spectacle was seen in the sky over Nuremberg by many men and women. At first there appeared in the middle of the sun two blood-red semicircular arcs, just like the moon in its last quarter. And in the sun, above and below and on both sides, the color was blood, and there stood a round ball of partly dull, partly black ferrous color. Likewise, there stood on both sides, and as a torus around the sun, such blood-red ones and other balls in large number, about three in a line and four in a square, also some standing alone. Between these globes were visible a few blood-red crosses, between which there were blood-red strips, becoming thicker toward the rear and in the front malleable like the rods of reed grass, intermingled, among them two big rods, one on the right, the other on the left, and within the small and big rods there were three, also four and more globes.
All these started to fight among themselves, so that the globes, which were first in the sun, flew out to those standing on both sides. Thereafter the globes standing outside the sun, in the small and large rods, flew into the sun. Besides, the globes flew back and forth among themselves and fought vehemently with each other for over an hour. And when the conflict in and again out of the sun was most intense, they became fatigued in such a way that they all, as if burned, fell down from the sun upon the Earth and wasted away on the Earth with immense smoke.
After all this there was something like a black spear, very long and thick, pointed at the end, and the shaft was turned toward the east, and the point toward the west. Whatever such signs mean, only God knows. We have seen, shortly one after another, many kinds of signs on the heavens, which are sent to us by the Almighty God, to make us repent of our sins. Yet very few people are doing so. May God have mercy on us all. Amen.”
Some individuals have ventured into the realm of the paranormal, positing that the phenomenon could be evidence of extraterrestrial activity or even an interdimensional encounter.
Several authors have explored the Celestial Phenomenon Over Nuremberg in their works. One such book, “Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times” by Jacques Vallée and Chris Aubeck, examines the event in the broader context of historical UFO sightings. The authors lool into various possible explanations, including the potential influence of religious beliefs and political tensions at the time.
Another book, “The Nuremberg UFO Battle: Germany’s Unsolved Mystery” by John Keel, looks deeper into the Nuremberg incident, exploring the event’s cultural, historical, and scientific context. Keel presents various theories, ranging from natural phenomena to extraterrestrial encounters, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of the celestial spectacle. Erich von Däniken, an author known for his work on ancient astronauts, speculates in his book “Chariots of the Gods?” that the Nuremberg event could be evidence of extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Another book “The Nuremberg Incident: A Cosmic Battle” by Lionel Fanthorpe, which explores the idea of an interdimensional conflict taking place in the skies above Nuremberg.
