Read Wonders in the Sky for Free Online Page B

1 Ancient-1799 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 511.
    8.
    218 BC, Amiterno, Italy: phantom ships
    â€œDuring this winter many portents occurred in Rome and the surrounding area, or at all events, many were reported and easily gained credence, for when once men’s minds have been excited by superstitious fears they easily believe these things…A phantom navy was seen shining in the sky; in the territory of Amiternum beings in human shape and clothed in white were seen at a distance, but no one came close to them.”
    There is no evidence that the aerial sightings had any connection with the other reports, so the mystery only seems compounded by the juxtaposition of strange events. In their chronological chapters, both Pliny and Livy appended a list of all prodigies reported for a given year, which were compiled in the Annales Maximi for the Consuls. These Annals, which were lost even before the time of Livy and Pliny, are now lost. This explains why the Roman prodigies that have reached us are only dated by their year, with an odd juxtaposition of unrelated events.
    Â 
    Source: The History of Rome Vol III by Livy , trans. Reverend Canon Roberts (Montana: Kessinger Publishing 2004), 51.
    9.
    216 BC, Arpi, Apulia, Italy: Shields
    Â 
    â€œAt Arpi shields had been seen in the sky and the sun had appeared to be fighting with the moon; at Capena two moons were visible in the daytime.”
    This description from Livy suggests disk-shaped flying objects but could also refer to meteors, as we do not know the duration of the observation.
    Â 
    Source: The History of Rome Vol III by Livy , trans. Reverend Canon Roberts (Montana: Kessinger Publishing 2004), 54.
    10.
    2 August 216 BC, Cannae, Apulia, Italy
Round objects, white figures
    During the famous battle won by Hannibal in Cannae (2 August, 216 BC), in the Apulian plain near Barletta, which saw the largest defeat in the history of Rome, a mysterious phenomenon was observed: “On the day of the battle, in the sky of the Apulia, round objects in the shape of ships were seen. The prodigies carried on all night long. On the edge of such objects were seen men dressed in white, like clergymen around a plow.”
    Â 
    Source: Italian magazine Cielo e Terra (August 1967): 2. We were unsuccessful in tracking down an original source. We include this quote from a popular magazine with reservations, given the abundance of fictional historical material in that period, and acknowledge a possible confusion with case 8 above.
    11.
    June 213 BC, Hadria, Gulf of Venice, Italy
Men seen in the sky
    Â 
    â€œAt Hadria an altar was seen in the sky and about it the forms of men in white clothes.”

    Fig. 3: An interpretation of the Hadria sighting
    This illustration attempts to capture the scene, which suggests an event remarkable enough for historians to have noted it, and for a record to have been preserved. We suspect, however, that a confusion of locations may exist with the case of 218 BC in Amiterno. White clothes are indicative of sacerdotal garments.
    Â 
    Source: Lycosthenes, Julii Obsequentis Prodigiorum Liber…per Conradum Lycosthenem Rubeaquensem integrati suae restitutus (Basel, 1552).
    12.
    173 BC, Lanuvium, Albano Laziale (Lanuvio), Italy
Aerial fleet
    â€œAs it was fully expected that there would be war with Macedonia, it was decided that portents should be expiated and prayers offered to win ‘the peace of the Gods,’ of those deities, namely, those mentioned in the Books of Fate. At Lanuvium the sight of a great fleet had been witnessed in the heavens…. ”
    Â 
    Source: The History of Rome Vol III by Livy , trans. Reverend Canon Roberts (Montana: Kessinger Publishing 2004), 72.
    13.
    163 BC, Cassino, Lazio Province, Italy
Nocturnal lights, sounds
    A “sun” shone at night for several hours. The original text reads: “Consulship of Tiberius Gracchus and Manius Juventus: at Capua the sun was seen during the