odditiesThe Public Domain Review1561 · Nuremberg, Germany
A 1561 Nuremberg broadside described a sky battle over the sun, probably a rare optical halo
On the morning of April 14, 1561, many people in Nuremberg reported strange objects around the rising sun, including red arcs, glowing balls, crosses and rods that seemed to fight and then fall to the ground in smoke. Hans Glaser, a letter-painter, printed a woodcut and account a few weeks later, interpreting it as a divine warning. Modern scholars think the most likely explanation is a halo display. Sundogs, called parhelia, are bright spots beside the sun formed by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in high cloud. Such displays can take unusual shapes, and strong colour and arcs can make them look like objects.
Parhelia form when sunlight passes through hexagonal ice crystals in high cirrus clouds, bending at fixed angles of about 22 degrees, which creates bright spots on either side of the sun. Other halo arcs can form from crystals of different orientations. Under the right conditions, the colours and shapes can look like solid objects or movement.
It is a useful example of how people explain unexplained sky events.
Historical sky reports, from comets in medieval chronicles to the nineteenth-century sea serpent sightings, were often read as omens or mysteries before natural explanations were known.
Carl Jung discussed the Nuremberg broadside in his 1958 book Flying Saucers.
Image: The Public Domain Review
