The Basel Sky Spheres
At sunrise, a broadsheet reported, the sky over Basel filled with black spheres that seemed to race and fight.
What was reported
A broadsheet printed in Basel by Samuel Coccius described signs in the sky in the summer of 1566. On 27 and 28 July, it said, the Sun and Moon looked blood red as they rose and set. Then at sunrise on 7 August, many large black spheres were seen moving at speed towards the Sun or against each other, as if fighting, and some turned red and fiery before fading.
Like the Nuremberg sky battle of 1561, the account is popular with people who believe it records a battle between unknown craft.
Explanations offered
Historians note that broadsheets of the time reported signs in the sky as moral warnings, in the religious language of the day. Suggested natural causes include sunspots seen through haze, halo effects, or dust and smoke over the city. There's no other independent record of what people actually saw.
- When
- 7 August 1566
- Where
- Basel, Switzerland
- Witnesses
- The people of Basel, as told in a broadsheet
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.