Basel leaflet from 1566
A series of unusual events is known as the Basel Sky Spectacle of 1566 , which is said to have occurred over the city of Basel in Switzerland in the summer of 1566 . The incidents were recorded by Samuel Apiarius and Samuel Coccius both visually and in writing on an uncolored leaflet (known as the Basel leaflet of 1566 ).
The Basel leaflet from 1566 first describes unusual sunrises and sunsets, and finally it reports on an alleged celestial phenomenon before the rising sun, in which numerous red and black balls in the sky are said to have "fought" with each other. The report is discussed among historians and meteorologists , but also in frontier and protosciences . Ufology in particular shows a keen interest in the leaflet, as in the report it contains, in their opinion, a sky battle between unknown flying objectsis described. Historians rate the report written by Samuel Coccius as a hearsay report embellished with religious interpretations and warnings . The Basel leaflet from 1566 is not the only one of its kind, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries leaflets with reports on alleged "miracle signs" and "heavenly spectacles" were widespread and popular.
Description of the leaflet
The leaflet is a single sheet print measuring 18.2 × 23.8 centimeters on paper. It comprises a large-format, uncoloured illustration with the main text in Schwabacher underneath, which is introduced with the nine-line initial “D”. The illustration was printed with a woodcut and the text with movable type . The report itself comes from the Zurich typesetter / printer and art student Samuel Coccius (originally Samuel Koch, née Essig ), the leaflet was illustrated and published by the book printer and music publisher Samuel Apiarius .
The picture shows the Münsterplatz with the Antistitium . The left half of the picture is dominated by the Basel Minster , the right half of the Antistitium (with a large archway). On the far right, behind the Antistitium, you can see more simple houses. The lower center of the picture is taken by the Münsterplatz, several men in fine court costumes marvel at the sky spectacle and seem to be discussing it. The upper center of the picture shows the rising sun with a human face looking sullenly at the viewer. The sun and sky are covered and surrounded by numerous black and colorless spheres, some spheres partially cover the sun.
Place of events
Center of what happened to the city of Basel in Switzerland have been, period was the year 1566. Samuel Coccius According to the phenomena had occurred on three specific days: on 25 and 28 July and on 7 August . They were visible to a large number of local witnesses in and around Basel.
Event description
According to the leaflet, different sky phenomena were observed on three days. The first event is said to have been an unusual sunset, the second a total lunar eclipse with an unusually red sunrise and during the third event a swarm of many "black spheres" was observed in front of the rising sun.
Original text
headline
« Strange shape in this MD LXVI. Jar / against rise and fall / under three painting in the sky has been seen / zů Basel auff den xxvii. and xxviii. Höwmontat and thereafter on the vii. Augsten. »
Apparitions
« This running LXVI. Jars on the XXVII. Höwmontats / after which the suns (as Pliny wol / called the world aug) seemed lovely and warm the whole day / in bright and finely cleaned air, Is it towards decline / on the evening / umb vii. All of a sudden changed / different form and color. Then first of all she lost her stripes and glamor / therefore not bigger / neither Vollmons is more real / and thirdly / as it were she blůt wept / in a black air and veld hinder iren was seen by all kinds of people all here back and forth. The same shape was after the sunset / the mon / wöllicher this time not far from its fullness / was light and shine / also through the night / almost red / and blue-colored / stood in the sky. Next morning / that was the sunny day / is again the suns umb iiii. uren come here and risen / with the form and shape / even after / since it had previously gone under and grace / also give such a repercussion on heusern / alleys and other things / as if some were raw and fiery and bloody. Weyters on the vii. Eyest / with the sunrise and a little before / vil big black spheres have been seen in the air / wölche for the suns / with great fast and high speed / also opposed to each other, as it were, those who were fighting / whose quite a few became raw and forbidden / subsequently consumed and extinguished. »
Adaptation to modern New High German
- headline
In 1566 three times, on the 27th and 28th of the month of the month , as well as on August 7th, around sunrise and sunset, a strange figure was seen in the sky at Basel.
- Apparitions
During the year 1566, on the 27th of the hay month, after the sun had shone warm and lovely in the bright and clear sky, it suddenly changed towards sunset, around 9 o'clock in the evening, and assumed a different shape and color. At first it lost all its radiance and shine, then it was no bigger than the full moon and finally it seemed to be crying blood and the air behind her became completely black. So she was seen by the eyes of all kinds of people over the city and the country. In a very similar way, the moon, which was almost full and shone through the night, was almost red and blood-colored in the sky. On the following morning, when it was Sunday, the sun came out again at around 6 o'clock, with the same shape with which it had previously gone down and to bed. She has shone on the houses, alleys and the surrounding area as if everything were fiery red and bloody. Further, on August 7th, towards sunrise and a little before that, many large, black balls were seen in the sky, which flew around in front of the sun with great speed and speed and crashed into one another as if they were fighting a fight. Several of them became fiery and red, soon disintegrated and then went out.
Closing text
The longer final text contains a Christian warning that begins with a reflection on the possible causes of the apparitions. Then she goes on extravagantly about biblical miraculous signs mentioned in the Old Testament , which God sent to people as warning signs. The Basel apparitions are also interpreted as warning signs. The sinners would certainly soon be punished, while those who are faithful to God need not fear the heavenly signs. Finally, the rapporteur, Samuel Coccius, was mentioned with thanks and a blessing addressed to him.
Interpretations and interpretations
Ufological interpretations
In ufology, the Basel leaflet is repeatedly used as an indication or even proof of alleged UFO encounters and visits by extraterrestrials in earlier times. The background here are the alleged descriptions of the numerous witness reports, understood as "violent appearances" and "fighting events", which are supposed to suggest UFOs fighting in the sky. Carl Gustav Jung argues that the dark color of the spherical UFOs is due to the fact that they were seen against the light of the rising sun, and that the unsteady and rapid flight movements of the objects are "characteristic" of UFOs.
The UFO researcher , astronomer and skeptic Jacques Vallee contradicts this and points out that it is conspicuous that the numerous early reports about “miraculous signs” and “heavenly spectacles” sometimes give the same description of the event. The reports with their always the same content would not change in their basic structure even over the centuries and the objects involved in the event were always the same. It is always about spheres, balls and / or disc-shaped objects of amazing maneuverability , which fought against the sun in the sky and in space . Likewise, the formation of formation of the objects and the very long duration of the events are thought-provoking. In addition, in the numerous texts, although they come from different decades and centuries , the same clichés and phrases are always used to describe the events. And each of these events was reported to religious , administrative and scientific authorities and published on leaflets.
Jaques Vallee asks himself, on the one hand, whether it would be right to ascribe all these reports today out of convenience to various natural phenomena and to leave it at that, since alternative possible interpretations could not easily be ruled out. On the other hand, it is unlikely that the technology behind the supposed extraterrestrial flying objects will not develop further in the reports over the centuries and that the extraterrestrials involved always seem to be the same. In addition, neither the purpose nor a motive for such sky battles are apparent.
Historiological interpretations
Skeptics like Ulrich Magin see little tenacity in the Basel report that could be used for a credible UFO report. In the depiction and report by Samuel Coccius, a frequently recurring motif can first be recognized: that of the apocalyptic horsemen and the “heavenly armies”. It is about two hostile armies of divine origin who appear in heaven to wage a wild battle in front of the eyes of all believers until one of the armies is defeated. Then the victorious army miraculously disappears and the report closes with a religiously instructive admonition. Heavenly armies and apocalyptic horsemen were (and are) seen as harbingers of approaching doom or as the announcement of the end of the world and the Last Judgment .
For comparison, Magin refers to early to late medieval leaflets in which very similar “miraculous signs” and “heavenly battles” are described, for example in a leaflet by Leonhardt Kellner from 1551. What they all have in common are above all the “flying balls, crosses and spearheads ", which are mostly seen near the sun and which, according to eyewitnesses, attack one another," as if they were fighting a fight, "as the Basel leaflet puts it. What all leaflets have in common is that they either mix actual, historical events with natural sky phenomena (for example halos and northern lights ) or simply parody them in a religious form . In the illustrations, the “flying balls” are only shown floating in the air to show the symbolic reference to God and heaven.
Magin finally points out that reports of alleged "sky battles" were already very popular in antiquity and especially in the early Middle Ages and were written down in surprisingly large numbers and distributed on leaflets and woodcuts . At that time the church had a great influence on the everyday life and faith of ordinary citizens and interpreted celestial phenomena of all kinds as "divine miracle signs" or as "warning signs of God". Accordingly, the images are also covered with Christian symbols. Pious citizens saw themselves through such leaflets and miracle reports as "exhorted by God" to confess to him and to remain faithful to him. Therefore, a report like the one from Basel would not be surprising, since the people in its day would have known how to interpret the leaflet correctly.
All in all, it is not advisable to take such reports and leaflets literally, as they are mostly reminders commissioned by the Church. Its purpose is less scientific enlightenment, but rather ecclesiastical propaganda and manipulation and its popularity was exploited by the church. The urge to repent and confess can be read well from the admonishing and instructive final texts. This is underpinned by the often strong exaggerations in the event descriptions as well as the unnecessarily polyscenic paintings, which may point to natural natural phenomena, but themselves seem exaggerated. Medieval leaflets such as the Basler Flugblatt are therefore more likely to be compared with today's tabloids .
Meteorological interpretations
The Meteorology deals with medieval leaflets on which "heavenly miracles" can be seen. The background to this is the observation that real celestial phenomena of all kinds are depicted in many representations. The most common of these sky spectacles include halos , sunsets , solar eclipses , lunar eclipses , polar lights and falling stars . According to meteorologists, the famous Nuremberg leaflet from 1561 probably recorded a morning halo phenomenon including several suns.
Similar events
Plecher heavenly spectacle
On June 1 , 1554 the local Leonhardt Kellner as well as the parish priest and the "whole community" observed a blood-red "stripe" over the rising sun over Plech in the early morning . Then "blue balls and stars" appeared, as well as "riders" who fought against each other with long " lances ". As in the Nuremberg leaflet, all observed objects are said to have slowly sunk into the horizon, then the riders and the stars came down "to the Markgrund" and rose again with a loud rustling towards the sun. Then the riders fought for more than two hours and "gradually passed".
Nuremberg sky spectacle
Much better known is an unusual event that is said to have occurred over the city of Nuremberg in the spring of 1561 . The incident was recorded by letter painter and printer Hans Wolff Glaser both in writing and in pictures on a colored leaflet (known as the Nuremberg leaflet of 1561 ). The leaflet shows and describes an alleged celestial phenomenon in front of the rising sun, in which numerous spherical - cross - and cylindrical objects in the sky are said to have "fought" with each other. "Two blood-red crescent moons" appeared behind the sun. The objects had "fought to the point of exhaustion" and then slowly sank to the ground, as if "they wanted to set everything on fire", then they had "passed with a lot of steam". Finally, a "large, uniform and black spear" covered the sky. The Nuremberg report also ends with a Christian warning.
Further comparison pieces
Oxford meteorite fall of 1628
A colored woodcut from 1628 which was made in Oxford ( England ) and reports of a meteorite fall. On 9 April of that year the residents heard in and around Oxford a loud bang like a cannon shot, after they saw a "tail, brighter than three suns" fall from the sky. According to Ulrich Magin, the color woodcut is so remarkable because the decline of the meteorite itself has been compared to a heavenly host of riders and gunners fighting and the painting actually shows two cannons in the clouds shooting at each other with bullets. In the center of the image, armed riders can be seen in the left center of the picture, attacking each other under three suns.
Northern lights
The northern lights were also regarded as a "terrible warning sign of God" in Central Europe until the late 18th century. Since the Nuremberg leaflet of 1561 was created at a time when apparently many "miraculous signs in the sky" were observed, it is hardly surprising for historians that the reports about the northern lights (for example about Basel, Nuremberg, Milan and Strasbourg ) also include these rewrite with "armies fighting in heaven" and "fiery splendor" and the texts are closed with Christian-Biblical warnings. This scheme coincides well with the Basel leaflet.
literature
- William J. Birnes: The Everything UFO Book: An investigation of sightings, cover-ups, and the quest for extraterrestrial life . Adamas Media, 2011, ISBN 1-4405-2647-8 .
- Robert Greenler: Rainbows, Halos and Glories . CUP Archives, Cambridge (NY) 1990, ISBN 0-521-38865-1 .
- Carl Gustav Jung: A modern myth: of things that are seen in the sky . Rascher-Verlag, Zurich / Stuttgart 1958.
- Wiebke Schwarte: Northern Lights . Waxmann, Münster 1999, ISBN 3-89325-785-3 .
- Jacques Vallee, Chris Aubeck: Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times . Penguin Books, 2010, ISBN 1-101-44472-X .
- JC Vintner: Ancient Earth Mysteries . AEM Publishing, Portland 2011, ISBN 1-4662-5524-2 .
Web links
- 1561: UFOs over Nuremberg? at Ufoinfo
- Nuremburg 1561 UFO “Battle” Debunked ( Memento from May 12, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b William J. Bulbs: The Everything UFO Book . Pp. 21-22.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Ulrich Magin: A UFO in 1561? - PDF document (German).
- ↑ a b c Wiebke Schwarte: Northern Lights . Pp. 88-99.
- ↑ Michael Schilling: Bildpublizistik der early Neuzeit: Tasks and achievements of the illustrated leaflet in Germany up to around 1700 (= studies and texts on the social history of literature , vol. 29). Walter de Gruyter, 1990, ISBN 3-11-091243-0 , pp. 180 & 339.
- ↑ a b c d e Carl Gustav Jung: A modern myth . Pp. 94-97.
- ↑ Notes: Long s (ſ) and round r (ꝛ) are rendered like s and r ; u and v have been adapted according to the sound (e.g. and instead of vnd ).
- ↑ a b Jaques Vallee: Wonders in the Sky . Page 125.
- ↑ Wiebke Schwarte: Northern Lights . Pp. 23-26.
- ↑ Robert Greenler: Rainbows, Halos and Glories . Pp. 106-109.