Hans Glaser was a journalist of sorts in 16th century Germany. He depicted a wondrous and perplexing event that occurred in the early morning hours of April 14, 1561, in the city of Nuremberg. His woodcut shows a sky full of strange objects, smoke arising from the ground where some objects seem to have crashed.
It was accompanied by a description (translated in full below) that speaks of rods and globular objects flying back and forth overhead, fighting vehemently. “Immense smoke” rose from the ground where the objects fell. Many of the objects were red, but there was also a “round ball of partly dull, partly black ferrous color,” and “something like a black spear, very long and thick, sighted; the shaft pointed to the east, the point pointed west.”
He said the scene was observed by many of the residents of Nuremberg. Glaser didn’t know what to make of it, except to say it could be a sign from God.
