Nuremberg celestial phenomenon
- Date
- 14 Apr 1561
- Place
- Nuremberg, Free Imperial City (Bavaria), Germany
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
An illustrated broadsheet printed the same month by the Nuremberg letter-painter Hans Glaser says that around dawn on 14 April 1561 'many men and women' saw spheres, cylinders, crosses and other shapes appear to fight in the sky before falling to earth amid smoke, with a large black triangular object also described. The broadsheet is the only contemporary record and was framed as a divine warning. The usual explanation is a solar halo display (sun dogs and arcs) rendered through religious and military imagery; some historians note the woodcut's stylised content does not match a halo closely, so the identification remains an inference.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
A solar halo display (sun dogs, arcs) described in religious and military imagery; the match to the woodcut is disputed
Evidence profile
- No: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Rendering
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- Yes: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nurembergen.wikipedia.org
On the map
49.45° N, 11.08° E, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map