961
“An arrow-like flash of lightning came right through Laigin from the south-west and killed eleven hundred men and animals as far as Áth Cliath.”
The Annals of Ulster
“960 alias 961”
Lightning Strike Kills More Than 300 Reindeer in Norway
“OSLO — Hardangervidda, a mountain plateau in southern Norway that is popular among tourists and hikers, is known for its natural beauty. As the seasons change, thousands of reindeer migrate across the plateau, moving between drier lands in the east, where they graze on lichens, and wetter lands in the west, where they breed.
But on Friday, a storm transformed the plateau into a grisly scene. Lightning appeared to have killed an entire herd: 323 reindeer at last count, including 70 calves and five reindeer that had to be put down because they were severely injured in the storm.
“We are not familiar with any previous happening on such a scale,” Kjartan Knutsen, an official at the Nature Inspectorate, part of the Norwegian Environment Agency, said in a phone interview on Monday. “Individual animals do from time to time get killed by lightning, and there are incidents where sheep have been killed in groups of 10 or even 20, but we have never seen anything like this.”
Henrik Pryser Libell
New York Times
August 29, 2016
461
“In a Gallician village, people and flocks combust in a strange manner when struck by a thunderbolt, and two young people are found concreted together as one burnt corpse.”
Herimani Augiensis Chronicon
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz et. al. Scriptorum Volume 5 1844
p. 83
525
“In the seventh year of his reign, in the month of May, Antioch the Great suffered its fifth calamity from the wrath of God, during the consulship of Olybrius. Great was the fear of God that occurred then, in that those caught in the earth beneath the buildings were incinerated and sparks of fire appeared out of the air and burned anyone they struck like lightning.
The surface of the earth boiled and foundations of buildings were struck by thunderbolts thrown up by the earthquakes and were burned to ashes by fire, so that even those who fled were met by flames.
It was a tremendous and incredible marvel with fire belching out rain, rain falling from tremendous furnaces, flame dissolving into showers, and showers kindling like flames consumed even those in the earth who were crying out.
… … ”
The Chronicle of John Malalas
Translated by Elizabeth Jeffreys, Michael Jeffreys, Roger Scott, et. al. 1986
Australian Association of Byzantine Studies
Department of Modern Greek
University of Sydney New South Wales
Pages 239-242
590
October 17
“Flooding from excessive rains, as everybody affirms, because floodwaters were overspread; so great was the calamity, that no one remembers there having been a more serious one for centuries.
A great dragon also descended into the sea by the Tiber in the form of a strong beam ("validae trabis") with an innumerable multitude of serpents; by which the beasts of the sea, being suffocated and cast upon the shore, corrupted the air with putridity.”
591
February 7
“In Italy, a flood occurred beyond the belief of nearly all, after much confusion of affairs there followed the inguinal plague, an unspeakable mortality of men, which first struck Pope Pelagius.”
Sigeberti Gemblacensis - Chronographia
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 320
“By the profusion of floodwaters, the Tiber grew so much in the city of Rome, that its waters flowed over the walls of the city and occupied large regions in it.
Then, through the channel of the same river, with a great multitude of serpents, a dragon, which was the size of the water (“etiam aquae magnitudine”), passed through the city as far as the sea.
Immediately after this inundation there followed a most severe pestilence, which they call 'inguinal', which devastated the city with such a slaughter of people, that scarcely a few remained of the incalculable multitude. First struck was Pope Pelagius, a venerable man, putting him to death without delay. Then, having killed the shepherd, it spread itself through the population.”
Chronicon Venetum
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
George Heinrich Pertz et. al. Scriptorum Volume 7 1846
Page 7
611
“The army of Ulaid was struck by terrible thunder in Bairche.”
The Annals of Ulster
Original Ulster date from manuscript = 610
612
“Lightning destroys the army of Ulaid.”
Annals of Inisfallen
643
1st Month, 1st Day, Spring
“In the morning, great clouds of five colours covered all the sky, except in the north-east, where they were wanting. A mist of a uniform blue color arose from the earth on all sides.”
11th Month
1st Day
“At this time five coloured banners and umbrellas shone in the sky, and descending, hung over the Temple to the sound of various music. Every one looked up with cries of admiration. At length they were pointed out to Iruka, upon which the banners and umbrellas were changed into a black cloud, so that Iruka was unable to see them.”
Nihongi
volume 2, pages 178, 179, 183
645
1st Month
“On mountain peaks, by riversides, or among shrines and temples, there was a something visible afar, and there was heard a humming of monkeys, as it were ten or sometimes twenty together. But when one approached to see what it might be, nothing was visible. There was still heard the sound of crying and screaming, but no one was able to distinguish any bodily form.
The men of that day said ‘These are the messengers of the Great Deity of Ise.’ ”
Nihongi
volume 2, page 190
654
“Fire fell from heaven, and great fear fell upon people.
A very severe pestilence raged for three summer months: a good and an evil angel were visibly seen by all to go about the city at night, and whenever the bad angel, at the command of the good angel, struck the door of any house with a hawk, which he carried in his hand, so many of the same house perished the next day.”
Sigeberti Gemblacensis - Chronographia
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 325
???
655
5th Month, 1st Day – Summer
“In the midst of the Void [“Sora”], there was seen one riding on a dragon, who resembled a man of Thang in appearance. He had a broad hat of green oiled stuff. He rode fast from the peak of Katsuraki and disappeared on Mount Ikoma. When it became noon, he galloped off over the firs of Sumiyoshi in a westerly direction.”
Nihongi
volume 2, pages 248, 249
661
8th Month, 1st Day
“The prince Imperial, in attendance on the Empress’s remains, returned as far as the Palace of Ihase. That evening, on the top of Mount Asakura, there was a demon [or ‘spirit’] wearing a green hat, who looked down on the funeral proceedings. All the people uttered exclamations of wonder.”
Nihongi
volume 2, page 272
672?
Syria
“In the fourth year of the reign of Constantine (4th regnal year = September 671 to September 672), on the night from Monday to Tuesday at the third watch of the night a perfect bow was seen in the heavens, a highly unusual phenomenon, indeed it is unnatural for a bow to appear in the night when the sun is underneath the earth.”
From: A Survey of Muslim Material on Comets and Meteors
David Cook, The University of Chicago Science History Publications Ltd
p. 5
citing:
Andrew Palmer, The seventh century in West-Syrian chronicles (Liverpool, 1993), 194, quoting from Dionysius of Tell-Mahre and Agapius of Manbij.
673
“Iris appeared in the sky in the month of March, and all flesh trembled, so that all said that it was the end.”
Sigeberti Gemblacensis - Chronographia
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 326
Annales Xantenses
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 2 1829
page 220
Iris is:
"The goddess of the rainbow, daughter of Thaumas and Electra, the sister of the Harpies, and the swift-footed messenger of the gods."
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Diris
674
“A thin and tremulous cloud in the shape of a rainbow appeared at the fourth vigil of night on the sixth feria preceding Easter, extending from east to west through a clear sky. The moon became the colour of blood.”
The Annals of Ulster
674 is the corrected date. The original manuscript says 673, tying in directly with the account above from Annales Xantenses.
In 674, easter was on April 15th.
In 673, easter was on March 27th.
This matches Annales Xantenses.
In 672, Easter was on April 11th
So, 673 is the most fitting year for this event.
So, the first account, from Syria, probably needs correcting to 673.
6 days before easter would be on the night between Monday and Tuesday (Ulster)
Dinysius gives “from Monday to Tuesday”.
Aurorae can take on the shape of a rainbow:
This is a witness to the Carrington event of 1859, after a giant solar flare was seen to eject from the sun:
‘‘The light appeared in streams, sometimes of a pure milky whiteness and sometimes of a light crimson. The white and rose-red waves of light as they swept to and from the corona were beautiful beyond description, and a friend near by us, while looking to the zenith with the whole heavens and earth lighted up at a greater brilliancy than is afforded by the full moon, said that it was like resting beneath the wings of the Almighty. The crown above, indeed, seemed like a throne of silver, purple and crimson, hung and spread out with curtains or wings of dazzling beauty. The tremulous motion of moving light, which the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands call ‘‘the merry dancers’’, was less apparent than usual, but in place of it came those full, bright, changing, but more steady streams of light, which gave an intense brilliancy to the whole heavens.”
Washington Daily National Intelligencer
Wednesday, August 31, 1859
Sourced from Eyewitness Reports of the Great Auroral Storm of 1859
James Lauer Green et. al.
So, there was probably a crazy aurora in March of 673, one strong enough to observe from Syria, dazzling enough to give people end-times jitters, and pervasive enough to affect incoming moonlight. If the notion of affecting incoming moonlight sounds absurd, take a look at this, also from the Carrington Event:
“Those who happened to be out late on Thursday night had an opportunity of witnessing another magnificent display of the auroral lights. The phenomenon was very similar to the display on Sunday night, though at times the light was, if possible, more brilliant, and the prismatic hues more varied and gorgeous. The light appeared to cover the whole firmament, apparently like a luminous cloud, through which the stars of the larger magnitude indistinctly shone. The light was greater than that of the moon at its full, but had an indescribable softness and delicacy that seemed to envelop everything upon which it rested. Between 12 and 1 o'clock, when the display was at its full brilliancy, the quiet streets of the city resting under this strange light, presented a beautiful as well as singular appearance.”
The Aurora Borealis
Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser
September 3, 1859. p. 2; Column 2.
So, if the plasma in an aurora can interfere with incoming starlight, it surely isn’t too far fetched to say that it would be possible to affect incoming moonlight as well.
676
“In Italy there were such rains and thunders in a manner that no man of any age remembers, with people and cattle perishing by lightning.
And unless the Lord had been propitiated by the litanies which they performed every day, men would not have been able to thresh or store grain in barns; in so far as from the rains themselves the vegetables were reborn again and reached maturity.”
Sigeberti Gemblacensis - Chronographia
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 326
747
“Riding on a Flaming Tigress, Buddhist saint Padmasambhava (“Born From A Lotus”), taking the form of Dorje Drolö (“Insanely Wrathful”) (the Sanskrit name of which is Guru Vajra = Guru “diamond” or Guru “lightning-bolt”), makes his way to Bhutan and arrives at Taktsang cave (“Tigress Lair”), which is found near the top of a kilometer-high rock-peak, in the Paro Valley of Bhutan (Druk Yul = “Land of the Thunder Dragon”).”
Padmasambhava is depicted with a lightning bolt in hand, both in painting and in sculpture. Buddhism is adopted in Bhutan in earnest after this.
https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Guru_Dorje_Drol%C3%B6
Painting of Dorje Drolö - Khenpo Namdrol
749
“… a great windstorm.
Drowning of the community of Í.
Ships with their crews were seen in the air above Cluain Moccu Nóis.”
The Annals of Ulster
Original Ulster date from manuscript = 748
771
“In the second year of his reign, [49th emperor of Japan, Koonin] there happened a storm of thunder and lightning dreadful beyond expression. It rained fire from Heaven, like stars, and the air was filled with a frightful noise.”
Contributions towards a History of the Star-Showers of Former Times
Communicated by Edward C. Herrick, Rec. Sec. of the Conn. Acad.
Read before the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, April 28, 1840; and since revised.
Printed in The American Journal of Science and Arts
Volume 39, 1840
page 350
Citing:
History of Japan
Engelbert Kamfer, M.D., translated by J. G. Scheuchzer
London, 1728
folio, Volume 1, page 162
772
29th September
“The assembly of the 'hand-clapping' at which occurred lightning and thunder like the day of judgment. The 'hand-clapping' on St Michael's Day (29 Sept.) which called fire from heaven.
The Irish fasted two periods of three days, with a single meal between them, through fear of the fire.”
The Annals of Ulster
Original Ulster date from manuscript = 771
767
“The fair of the clapping of hands, so called because terrific and horrible signs appeared at the time, which were like unto the signs of the day of judgment, namely, great thunder and lightning, so that it was insufferable to all to hear the one and see the other.
Fear and horror seized the men of Ireland, so that their religious seniors ordered them to make two fasts, together with fervent prayer, and one meal between them, to protect and save them from a pestilence, precisely at Michaelmas. Hence came the Lamhchomart, which was called the Fire from heaven.”
Annals of the Four Masters
Book 1
776
“Fiery and terrible signs were seen in the heavens after the setting of the sun. And serpents, too, were seen in Sussex, to the great wonder of the people, as if they rose in abundance out of the earth.”
Flowers of History
Matthew of Westminster
774
“This year also appeared in the heavens a red crucifix, after sunset; … and wonderful serpents were seen in the land of the South-Saxons.”
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
776
“At night, in the eastern direction above the Moon there were more than ten streaks (dao) of white vapour (baiqi). They were like unspun silk. They penetrated (guan) [the star groups] Wuche (in Auriga), Dongjing (in Gemini), Yugui (in Cancer), Zui and Shen (both in Orion), Bi (in Taurus), Liu (in Hydra), and Xuanyuan (in Leo). After the third watch (i.e., after about 1:30 a.m.), they disappeared.”
Jiu Tangshu (“Old History of the Tang Dynasty”)
Liu Xu (ed.) Jiutangshu, Beijing, 1975 (in Chinese)
v. 36, p. 1328
Sourced from:
Do the Chinese astronomical records dated AD 776 January 12/13 describe an auroral display or a lunar halo? A critical reexamination
F. Richard Stephenson
Department of physics, Durham
776
“... ... when they had prepared to resume battle, the glory of God appeared manifestly above the house of the church, which was below the castle itself, while many were watching, both Christians and Pagans.
For two shields appeared above the aforesaid hall, with flaming blood-red colour, and agitating with certain movements, as if in battle.
Therefore the Pagans, on seeing this sign, being filled with fear and dread, soon turned to flight, and came into such madness, so that with their swords already drawn, they were stabbing each other [by accident, as they were fleeing].
But the more they fled, being horribly terrified, the more the Christians were encouraged, praising the Almighty Lord, who saves those who hope in him.”
Regionis Chronicon
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 558
776
“When the Saxons were besieging the castle of Heresburch, the glory of God appeared above the church to all, namely, two shields flaming with the color of blood, displaying certain movements, as in battle, through the air.”
Sigeberti Gemblacensis - Chronographia
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 334
786
“A great windstorm in January. An inundation in Dairinis. A horrible vision in Cluain Moccu Nóis, and great penance done throughout Ireland.
A pestilence called scamach.”
The Annals of Ulster
Original Ulster date from manuscript = 785
786
“In that year, a sign was sent from heaven by God onto the earth, and there was great terror.”
Annales Petaviani
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
“A multitude of signs appeared, among which the sign of the cross appeared frequently on garments; and it is said that blood flowed from both Heaven and Earth.”
Annales Laurissenses Minores
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 118
781
Annales Fuldenses
Auctore Enhardo
Gesta Quorundam Regum Francorum
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 349
781
Herimani Augiensis Chronicon
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz et. al. Scriptorum Volume 5 1844
p. 100
“In the month of December there appeared terrible lines/sword-edges in heaven such as had never previously appeared to our people, in fact the sign of the cross also appeared on people's clothing, and a few people said they saw blood raining, inducing sudden great panic and fear in the people, and a great mortality followed this.”
Annales Laureshamenses
XVIIII
Codex Laureshamensis
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 33
Chronicon Moissiacense
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 298
“Many signs are reported to have appeared; for the sign of the cross appeared in the garments of men, and blood flowed from the earth and from heaven; and many other signs appeared, from which a great panic and fear fell on the people wholeheartedly, so much so that they made amends.
And six days before Christmas there appeared immense thunder and lightning, so that it shook the churches in Wildi, and it was heard throughout almost all of France, and many people were slain; the birds of the heavens were also killed by the thunder.
And the bow of the sky appeared in the clouds by night.
And afterwards there was a very great mortality.”
Annales Laureshamenses
Fragmentum Annalium Chesnii
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 33
793
“This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying across the firmament.
These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island, by rapine and slaughter.”
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
823
“Prodigies are reported to have arisen this year, chief of which is an earthquake in the palace of Aachen; and in the territory of Tollense, close to the commercial village, a 12-year old girl abstained from all food for 10 months.
And in Saxony, in the district of Firihsazi, 23 villages were burnt by fire from heaven, with lightning descending from the sky on a clear day.
And in many countries the grain was destroyed by devastating hail, and in some places, true stones of very great weight were seen to fall together with the hail; the houses also were struck by the sky, and both men and animals are said to have swooned in every direction by the blow of the thunderbolts, contrary to normal, at frequent intervals.
There ensued a great pestilence and mortality of men, which in every part of France prevailed with brutality, and consumed an innumerable multitude of people of both sexes and different ages, with the greatest degree of cruelty.”
Einhardi Annales
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
pages 211, 212
Annales Fuldenses
Auctore Enhardo
Gesta Quorundam Regum Francorum
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 358
838
“The winter was rainy and very windy, and in January, on 12 Kalends February (21st of January) thunderstorms were heard; similarly, in the month of February, on 14 Kalends March (16th of February), very loud thunder crashes were heard, and excessive heat from the sun burned the earth; and in some parts there was an earthquake; and fire in the form of a dragon was seen in the air.
In the same year heretical depravity arose.
In the same year, on the fifth night before Christmas, a great crash of thunder was heard, and lightning was seen, and in many ways the misery and calamity of men was increasing daily.”
Annales Xantenses
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 2 1829
p. 226
872
“The entire summer season was never free from hail or other various storms; for the hail devastated the crops in many places; and even dreadful thunders and lightnings were threatening mortal destruction almost every day; by whose powerful blows men and beasts were killed and brought to ashes, in different places, it is reported.”
Annales Fuldenses
Auctore Incerto
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 385
Annales Augienses
Pars Secunda, Genuina
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 68
This annal mentions this, but dates it to 873.
992
October 21
“On 12 Kalends November (October 21) the whole sky thrice in the night seemed red.”
Annales Magdeburgenses
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz et. al. Scriptorum Volume 16 1859
p. 158
992
December 26
“A remarkable manifestation on St. Stephen's night (December 26), the sky appearing blood-red.”
Annals of Ulster
Original Ulster date from manuscript = “991 alias 992”
993
“On the night of the birthday of St. Stephen the protomartyr, we saw a miracle unprecedented for centuries, namely, that so great a light shone from the north around the first rooster, that many would say the day would rise. It stood for a full one hour, and afterward, when the sky was somewhat red, the color was changed to its usual form.”
Annales Magdeburgenses
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz et. al. Scriptorum Volume 16 1859
p. 158
1025
February 4
“A wonderful thing, very astonishing in our times, occurred on Pridie Nones February (February 4). For the sun rode in golden chariots, and while he poured over the middle axis of the pole with the wondrous splendor of his brightness, suddenly three types of figures were seen glistening. This amazing event was proven as a true prodigy. This year the famine prevailed, and many places perished by fire.”
Annales Magdeburgenses
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz et. al. Scriptorum Volume 16 1859
p. 169
Atmospheric light effect maybe?
1037
“On the holy day of Pentecost, when the sun was rising, above the army were seen flashing lightnings, rumbling thunderings, with the citizens within the walls not perceiving these things at all.
It is also reported that not a few horses and men were transfixed by the lightnings, some surely seized by a demon.”
Annales Sangallenses Maiores
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Volume 1 1826
p. 84
Is this what is meant by a ‘Gorgon’ turning men to stone?
1107
“Great wind and lightning in Ireland in this year, and it killed many people and cattle.”
Chronicon Scotorum
1110
February 11th
“On February 11 of this year, there was a portent in the Crypt Monastery. A fiery pillar appeared which reached from earth to heaven; lightnings illumined the whole countryside, and thunder was heard in the sky at the first hour of the night.
The whole populace beheld the miracle.
The pillar first stood over the stone refectory, so that its cross could not be seen. Then it moved a little, reached the church, and halted over the tomb of Theodosius. Then it rose, as if facing to the eastward, and forthwith became invisible.”
The Russian Primary Chronicle
page 204
“A comet appeared in an unwonted manner, for, though it arose from the east, and mounted into the sky, it seemed not to move forwards, but backwards.”
Flowers of History
Roger of Wendover
“A comet appeared in an unusual manner. For when, rising from the east, it had ascended into the firmament, it was seen to regress back.
In the month of June a comet appeared directing its rays towards the south.”
(Sigeberti) Roberti De Monte Cronica
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 483
1134
“On 14 Kalends July (18th of June) thunder was heard, and unusual shimmering lightningbolts appeared, so that some thought that the end of the world was at hand.”
(Sigeberti) Continuatio Burburgensis
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 457
1152
“On the same night (17 Kalends August = 16th of July) excessive lightning, and afterwards a huge quasi-dragon was seen running across the sky from west to east.”
(Sigeberti) Roberti De Monte Cronica
From: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Georg Heinrich Pertz Scriptorum Volume 6 1844
p. 500
1206
Bhutan (Druk Yul)
“… in 1206, while he [Drogon Tsangpa Gyare] was on his way to establish a large monastic center, as he and his followers reached Namgyi-phu, nine dragons (later said to be the manifestations of nine Indian Mahasiddhas) reared up from the earth and soared overhead, roaring like thunder, while flowers miraculously rained down.
Thus, the lineage became known as the Dragon Sect or the Drukpa, 'Druk' meaning Dragon in Tibetan. The monastery established there, Druk Sewa Jangchub Ling (The Awakening Place of the Ultimate Dragon Lineage), remained for a long time as the principal monastery of the Drukpa lineage, and the place came to be known as 'Namdruk' [‘sky dragon’]. Some one thousand huts were built within a year.”
Drukpa.com
Founder of the Lineage
“Tsangpa Gyare was a famous teacher whose teachings were sometimes attended by as many as 5,000 people at a time. It was reported that he had 8,800 eminent followers, of whom 280 were enlightened yogis. His lineage became famous for the yogic asceticism of its adherents and the profundity of its spiritual teachings.
Amongst Tsangpa Gyare's students, Gyalwa Go-tsang-pa spread the Drukpa tradition in western Tibet and his followers came to be known as the Upper Drukpa School. The followers of Choje Lo-repa, another of his students, branched out to form the Lower Drukpa School. Onray Dharma Senge started the Central Drukpa School and another disciple, Phajo Drugom Zhigpo (1184 - 1251), left for Bhutan following the command of Tsangpa Gyare who instructed him to go south of Tibet. He founded the first Drukpa monasteries in Bhutan at Phachok Deng and Tago. Thus the Drukpa School spread far and wide.”
dharmafellowship.org
A Brief History of the Glorious Drukpa Kagyu Lineage
“Since the 17th century, Bhutan's official name has been Druk Yul (country of the Drukpa Lineage, the Dragon People, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a reference to the country's dominant Buddhist sect); "Bhutan" appears only in English-language official correspondence.”
U.S. Library of Congress
Country Studies, Bhutan
Historical setting, Bhutan
Origins and Early Settlement, A.D. 600–1600
1293, 1294
“On 18 July 1293 in central England there was ‘a remarkable appearance in the sky about dawn’ and the following evening there was ‘continual thunder for the whole night with great lightning, ‘and finally there succeeded a thunderbolt.’ Then just a year later, on 20 July 1294, ‘there were coruscations of lightning destroying the corn whence ensued a great dearth and many died of hunger.’ ”
A Meteorological Chronology to AD 1450
Britton, C.E.
Geophysical memoirs 70.
HMSO, London
Sourced from within:
New Light on the Black Death
Page 139
1296
“A note concerning the fall of a gigantic meteorite in 1296 near Velikii Ustiug is interesting:
“On the second week at noon there suddenly appeared over the town of Ustiug a dark cloud and it was as dark as the night. The people of the town upon seeing such a miracle were unable to comprehend what it was. And after this there appeared great clouds rising from all four sides and from these clouds lightning kept flashing ceaselessly.
And it thundered over the town of Ustiug so strongly and horribly that it was impossible to hear people talk. Even the ground seemed to sway continuously and shake as if terrified by this horror. And clouds of fire arose and collided with one another; great heat arose from lightning and fiery thunder.”
According to this report which has been preserved to the present time, this meteorite which was called “stony swarm”, fell into the forest near the town of Velikii Ustiug.
For many centuries, up to the beginning of the current one, this event having had a religious tint imparted to it, was used by the church for its purposes.”
Principles of Meteoritics:
International Series of Monographs on Earth Sciences
Yevgeny Leonidovich Krinov
Pergamon Press, 1960
Translated from the Russian by Irene Vidziunas
Edited by Harrison Brown
Division of Geological Sciences, CalTec
Page 2
1325
“Excessive thunder and lightning in that year, so that they injured the fruit and crops of Ireland, until they were quite withered.
A plague of general disease throughout all Ireland, which was called a Cold: for the space of three days or four it continued on each person, so that he was nigh unto death.”
The Annals of Ulster
Original Ulster date from manuscript = “A.D. 1325-8”
1346
“In the East, hard by Greater India, in a certain province, horrors and unheard of tempests overwhelmed the whole province for the space of three days. On the first day there was a rain of frogs, serpents, lizards, scorpions, and many venomous beasts of that sort. On the second, thunder was heard, and lightning and sheets of fire fell upon the earth, mingled with hail stones of marvelous size; which slew almost all, from the greatest even to the least. On the third day there fell fire from heaven and stinking smoke, which slew all that were left of men and beasts, and burned up all the cities and towns in those parts. By these tempests the whole province was infected; and it is conjectured that, through the foul blast of wind that came from the South, the whole seashore and surrounding lands were infected, and are waxing more and more poisonous from day to day …”
The Black Death
Philip Ziegler
Penguin UK, 1982 (original was 1969)
Opening of chapter 1 Origins and Nature
See previous page on this site for full quote from Ziegler.
1871
August 22
“At Ihaugara, in India, on the hills, a cloud-burst and rain-torrent was followed by a thunderbolt that rent and tore the earth in a vast chasm, and all the huts there, with the inmates, fifty or sixty persons, were swallowed up in the pit. The Times, of India, says ‘such a catastrophe has never been known in Sind’.”
The Black and Terrible Year
S. Hawes, 1872
“There’s a lot we don’t know about lightning. Physicists love to answer how-questions, “how does lightning do this, how does it do that”. Unfortunately we’re not so good about that. What I can answer and what I can tell you about is what are some of the things lightning does.
We don’t actually understand how lightning gets started inside the thunderstorm. The charges seem to be too small when we measure them. The field is too low.
Once it gets started, we don’t understand how it moves. It’s a little bit of a mystery how lightning can form a hot channel, a conductive channel, through air, air is a good insulator. How can you get this hot conductive channel that goes for miles through air and carry electricity. That’s still not very well understood.
Imagine, it is a beautiful day outside, you’re going to go for a walk. You walk outside, the birds are singing and you take a deep breath, and bam, you’re dead. What happened? Why is Bob dead on the ground? There’s not a cloud in the sky! I didn’t hear any thunder! What happened? Well, there was a thunderstorm, some distance away, maybe over beyond the trees over there, looks like it’s a long ways away, you can’t quite see it, too far away to hear thunder, and yet that thunderstorm, in actually a way we don’t understand very well, made lightning inside, started going up, going down, then went out the side, wandered around a bit, and decided to come hit Bob in the head. The so-called Bolt from the Blue.
Sympathetic lightning was first seen from outer space. Astronauts, when they’re flying in space, would look down and you can see lighting, … and you can see it going off (in several locations). What they noticed was when it would go off here, then it would go off (in another location, then another), it would be like a chain of lightning, like it was communicating sympathetically. This is weird! The distances are huge! And so, it’s very hard to understand how this could happen. There is no obvious way that this should work, e.g. electric fields are too small to start new lightning. The distances are also too large for lightning to propagate from one storm to the other. Since lightning initiation is also a big mystery, sympathetic lightning may provide a clue.
(after a normal lightning strike is shown in slow-mo) Did you see the beading? As the return-stroke cools down, it beads (makes little balls), we see these little separate bright beads. We actually don’t understand that very well, why it does that.
Compact Inter-cloud Discharges: This is actually my favorite one, to me, this is the most bizarre. These are also called Narrow Bi-Polar Events. These are the most powerful natural radio emitters on earth, and in the space around the earth! So, you’ll have a thunderstorm. And suddenly, (with) apparently nothing else going on, it’ll go BOOM! You’ll get this very powerful burst of radio waves. And the whole thing lasts, maybe, 10 millionths of a second. So, absolutely nothing before, no lightning before, no leaders, no breakdown, no discharge, nothing. It’s quiet. BOOM! The most powerful radio emission on the planet, and then nothing after. It doesn’t emit any light. This is more powerful than normal lightning, but it emits no light inside the thunderstorm. Just these big bursts of radio waves. We have no idea, absolutely no idea what’s making these. Very weird.
Imagine, you’re sitting down watching TV. And there’s a thunderstorm outside. You look up, and out your window, you see a ball of light, as bright as a 60 watt lightbulb, and about the same size. It’s just a ball that’s glowing there. And then, it enters through the glass of your window, and into your living room, moves around, seems to zero-in on you, comes up to you, an then goes boom, and disappears. Ball lightning! This has been reported for hundreds of years. Almost every time I give a talk, there’s usually one person who’s seen it, and it’s not the crazy person either, it’s the doctor with a well-established practice. Normal people see this. It’s not uncommon. Nobody understands what makes ball-lightning. It’s a real mystery. It’s a bright glowing ball, usually about the size of an orange, slowly moves horizontally, across the ground… It’s been seen inside aircraft, it’s been seen to enter through the cockpit window of an aircraft, bounce down the aisle, exit out the side window, and roll out along the wing. Seen by the whole crew. Now, if that ain’t weird, I don’t know what is. Every branch of science has its own theory of ball lightning.
We had discovered these electron and positron beams shooting out, and whacking spacecraft, thousands of miles away, and we actually discovered these here at Florida Tech, and we did this big NASA press release. Thunderstorms make these big bursts of gamma rays, called Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes, and they’re so bright that they can blind spacecraft hundreds of miles away. Really intense bursts of gamma rays. We don’t understand how they do it, but, there they are!
I want to tell you a little bit about the research we are doing here (at Florida Tech). We’re trying to understand all this. We’re trying to understand Terrestrial Gamma Ray flashes, we’re trying to quantify the risk. One way that we’re studying all this is with rocket-triggered lightning. The reason we don’t understand lightning very well is that it’s very difficult to study. You never know when lightning is going to strike, you don’t know where to point your camera, or your instruments; you point them here and it strikes over there. So, rocket-triggered lightning is a way of sort of artificially forcing the lightning to strike a given place. You put all your instruments around this tower, and you launch a rocket, and that brings the lightning down to you. … (pointing to 3 shiny boxes beside the lightning-tower) These are our X-Ray detectors (pointed at the tower), and we’re going to measure and see what the X-Rays are doing. … So, what did we find? We found that lightning emits X-Rays! This is brand new! We just figured this out! Before 2001, nobody knew that lightning emitted X-Rays! You would ask a lightning physicist “does lightning emit X-Rays” he would say “Noooooo, that’s crazy, lightning doesn’t emit X-Rays”. Now we know, not only does it emit X-Rays, it emits them every time and they’re really really bright. It actually has something to do with how lightning moves. Remember how we were having trouble understanding how lightning propagates. Apparently the X-Ray emission is playing some role in it. The energies that come out of lightning are actually about the same as you would get with a chest X-Ray or cat-scan.
I showed you a lot of weird things, that somewhat seemed random. What is really weird is many of these seem linked together. When you get one of them, (when) one of these weird things pops up, often you see another one popping up at the same time. When these Terrestrial Gamma Ray flashes, these bursts of gamma-rays and anti-matter are made, more often than not, these Compact Intercloud Discharges, these weird big bursts of radio waves are in there somewhere. They’re somehow connected. These giant jets shooting up, these blue jets shooting up to the ionosphere, they start popping their heads up. All the weird stuff tends to happen together. We don’t understand that. We don’t know why that’s happening. But it’s a clue, it’s telling us something.
Lightning research is a lot of fun. You get to blow things up. You get to study things that are big and bright, and also very strange.”
Joseph Dwyer, Ph. D.
Department of Physics and Space Sciences
Florida Institute of Technology
Lecture: Weird Lightning, 23 SEP 2011
The above ~20-foot diameter rolling orb of swirling plasma was captured on video July 2nd 2025, by honest hard-working trustworthy Albertans, after “a vicious lightning strike”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmOfwFHBu_o
!!!
The following is the account of Travis Walton, forester, in Arizona, November 5, 1975:
“We loaded the chainsaws and gas and oil cans into the back of the '65 International. After arranging the gas cans so they would not tip over and leak on the bumps, Mike slammed the tailgate tightly. The decrepit pickup groaned on its tired old suspension as everyone piled in. There was Dwayne by the left rear door, John and Steve in the middle, and Allen by the right rear door. In the front, I sat by the door, riding shotgun. Ken sat in the middle, and of course Mike was driving. The seven of us usually sat in the same place every day. Nonsmokers in front, smokers in back.
Mike started the old pickup and we climbed north up the ridge toward the Rim Road. It was 6:10. Barring any breakdowns, we should be home before 7:30. We left the windows down so we could cool off some. We were still warm from laboring, in spite of the evening air. Mike, Ken, and I do not smoke and we prefer to inhale genuine, unadulterated air. The four in the backseat lit up as soon as we were in the truck, eager after hours without a cigarette. The fresh air coming in my window was bracing. We usually nap on the way to work every morning, but none of us ever feels drowsy on the way back to town. The rousing activity on the job hones a keenness that stays with us all the way home.
Bouncing over the water-bars in the road — humps of dirt that prevent the road from washing out in the rainy season — the truck kept bottoming out on its springs with a dull clunking sound. The fellows started cracking jokes about the pickup.
Just then my eye was caught by a light coming through the trees on the right, a hundred yards ahead. I idly assumed that the glow was the sun going down in the west. Then it occurred to me that the sun had set half an hour ago. Curious, I thought it might be the light of some hunters camped there — headlights or maybe a fire. Some of the guys must have caught sight of it too, because the men on the right side of the truck had fallen silent.
As we continued driving up the road toward the brightness, we passed in sight of it for an instant. We barely got a glimpse through gnarled branches before we rolled past the opening in the trees.
"Son of a . . ." Allen started.
"What the hell was that?" I asked.
My eyes strained to make sense of the glimmering through the dense stand of trees blocking our vision. From my open window, I could see the yellowish brilliance washing across our path onto the road another forty yards ahead. Intrigued, I was impatient to get past the intervening pines.
From the driver's seat, Mike could not look up with the proper angle without leaning way over, "What do you guys see?" he demanded curiously.
Dwayne answered, "I don't know — but it looked like a crashed plane hanging in a tree!"
Finally, our growing excitement spurred Mike into wringing out what little speed the pickup could still achieve on the incline. We rolled past the intervening evergreen thicket to where we could have an unobstructed view of the source of the strange radiance. Suddenly we were electrified by the most awesome, incredible sight we had seen in our entire lives.
"Stop!" John cried out. "Stop the truck!"
As the truck skidded to a dusty halt in the rocky road, I threw open the door for a clearer view of the dazzling sight.
"My God!" Allen yelled. "It's a flying saucer!"
Mike shut off the engine. We watched, spellbound. The men on the left side of the truck leaned over so that they could see. There, a mere twenty feet above the ground, a strange, golden disc hovered silently. Our attention was riveted on that object poised in the air. Impaled by the sight, we were held transfixed for one long, silent moment that felt like an eternity.
The cold, jarring reality of what we were witnessing struck fear and awe to the core of every one of us. Suddenly beholding its vivid, magnificent structure summoned all emotions at once. You could almost hear our hearts pounding above that suspended instant of silence. Less than thirty yards away, the metallic craft hung motionless, fifteen feet above a tangled pile of logging slash.
The craft was stationary, hovering well below the treetops near the crest of the ridge. The hard, mechanical precision of the luminous vehicle was in sharp contrast to the primitive ruggedness of the dark surroundings. Its edges were clearly defined. The golden machine was starkly outlined against the deepening blue of the clear evening sky.
The soft yellow haze from the craft dimly illuminated the immediate area with an eerie glow. Under the weird light, the encircling forest took on bizarre hues that were very different from its natural colors. The trees, the brush, and the grass all reflected subtle, peculiar new shades.
I estimated the object to have an overall diameter of fifteen or twenty feet; it was eight or ten feet thick. The flattened disc had a shape like that of two gigantic pie-pans placed lip to lip, with a small round bowl turned upside down on the top. Barely visible at our angle of sight, the white dome peaked over the upper outline of the ship. We could see darker stripes of a dull silver sheen that divided the glowing areas into panel-like sections. The dim yellowish light given off by the surface had the luster of hot metal, fresh from a blast furnace.
There were no visible antennae or protrusions of any kind. Nothing that resembled a hatch, ports, or window-like structures could be seen. There was no motion and no sound from the craft. It almost appeared to be dead in the air.
I glanced from one to another stricken face. Turning back to that impelling spectacle in the air, I was suddenly seized with the urgency to see the craft at close range. I was afraid it would fly away and I would miss the chance of a lifetime to satisfy my curiosity about it. I hurriedly got out of the truck and started toward the hovering ship.
The men were alarmed by my sudden action.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mike demanded in a loud, harsh whisper.
Placing my feet quietly, I quickly stalked closer to the mysterious vehicle. Stepping over a low-leaning fir sapling, I carefully picked my way through the opening in the trees. I put my hands in my pockets in response to the cooler twilight air outside the truck.
"Hey, Travis!" the men warned insistently.
I stopped walking for a long, hesitant moment. I paused and turned to look back at the six men staring questioningly at me from the truck. The sober realization of what I was doing abruptly heightened the doubt I was already wrestling with. What should I do? I asked myself. Maybe I'm being foolhardy, I told myself. I won't get too close . . . but what if there's somebody inside that thing? I faltered. Finally I reassured myself with: I can always run away.
I was committed. Without replying to the guys, I resolutely turned and continued my brazen approach. I moved more slowly, cautiously covering the remaining distance in a half-crouch. I straightened up as I entered the dim circular halo of light softly reflecting onto the ground under the craft. I was about six feet from being directly beneath the machine. Bathed in the yellow aura, I stared up at the unbelievably smooth, unblemished surface of the curving hull. I was filled with a tremendous sense of awe and curiosity as I pondered the incomprehensible mysteries possible within it.
I had become aware of a barely audible sound coming from the ship. I could detect a strange blend of low- and high-pitched mechanical sounds. There were intermittent high, piercing, beeping points overlaid on the distant, low rumbling sound of heavy machinery. The strange tones were so mixed that it was impossible to compare them to any sound I could remember ever hearing.
"Travis! Get away from there!" Mike yelled to me.
I shot a fleeting look at the pickup parked in the road, then turned my attention back to studying the incredible ship.
Suddenly I was startled by a powerful, thunderous swell in the volume of the vibrations from the craft. I jumped at the sound, like that of a multitude of turbine generators starting up. I saw the saucer start wobbling on its axis with a quickening motion, in a pattern like the erratic spin of an unstabilized top. The same side continued to face me as the craft remained hovering at approximately the same height while it wobbled.
I ducked into a crouch when a tremendously bright, blue-green ray shot from the bottom of the craft. I saw and heard nothing. All I felt was the numbing force of a blow that felt like a high-voltage electrocution. The intense bolt made a sharp cracking, or popping, sound. The stunning concussion of the foot-wide beam struck me full in the head and chest. My mind sank quickly into unfeeling blackness. I didn't even see what hit me; but from the instant I felt that paralyzing blow, I did not see, hear, or feel anything more.
The men in the truck saw my body arch backward, arms and legs outstretched, as the force of the blow lifted me off the ground. I was hurled backward through the air ten feet. They saw my right shoulder hit the hard rocky earth of the ridgetop. My body landed limply and lay motionless, spread out on the ground.
"It got him!" Steve yelled.
Dwayne screamed: "Let's get out of here!"
"Get this son of a bitch moving!" Allen shrieked hysterically.
…
…
"I do know one thing. It sure looked like he got hit by lightning or something!" Dwayne returned. "I heard a zap — like as if he touched a live wire!"
…
…
Mike told them he thought he had briefly seen the outline of the golden disc through the trees to the south. It had raised itself vertically to treetop level and streaked away toward the northeast at incredible speed.
…
…
"Travis! . . . TRAVIS!!" Except for their calls, the woods were deathly quiet. They searched farther north, as Allen had suggested. They searched beyond the crest of the ridge and farther south. They found no sign anywhere — no foreign objects or unusual markings. No burns, pad impressions, or disturbed ground. Not a trace of tracks and no evidence of a struggle.”
An Ordinary Day
By Travis Walton
Condensed from the book Fire in the Sky
If Travis Walton was to be an object of experiment, why would the Aliens in this “craft” not take him up, physically? Surely regular tranquilizers would be preferred, or maybe just a deceptive conversation, promising a free ride and exotic accommodations in a fun spacecraft. If they wanted to study a human creature, surely zapping Walton with a million volts in a bolt a foot wide would hinder the prospects of an accurate study of this earthling. Right?
If the ship had taken off at incredible speed, and if this is exactly like many other sightings of glowing orbs taking off at incredible speeds, then the speed was very very very fast. If Walton was on that “ship”, and he was thrust near to instantaneously at those speeds (across the entire sky in an instant), surely that would have been a deadly jarring abrupt motion for Walton, and any alleged alien passengers. No? What, you think these tiny ships have momentum-inducers activated before their jumps? That’s a lot of “machinery” in a “ship” 20 feet wide by ten feet tall.
One thing that should be learned from this is: plasma science can be dangerous!
What one should do when one sees a plasma orb vibrating and hissing in the forest – do not approach it! Immediately call Kristian Birkeland.
“There were no visible antennae or protrusions of any kind. Nothing that resembled a hatch, ports, or window-like structures could be seen. There was no motion and no sound from the craft. It almost appeared to be dead in the air.”
This was not a spacecraft.
Period.
The only thing reported is glowing lights, electrical sounds, and an electrical discharge of astounding magnitude.
This was a plasma/electromagnetic phenomenon.
Period.
Travis disappeared for five days after getting zapped:
“When Travis went missing, neither his mother Mary Kellett, nor his brother Duane Walton (who was also in the wood-cutting team), expressed either shock or dismay at his absence.
When Deputy Sheriff (of Heber County) Kenneth Coplan visited Mrs Kellett’s ranch house near the UFO site, he was astonished by her reaction. She just said: “Well, that’s the way these things happen.”
While the authorities were looking for Walton, local UFOlogist Fred Sylvanus of Phoenix, interviewed Duane Walton, who said that he was “having the experience of a lifetime!” – a remarkably upbeat and philosophical comment under the circumstances. Clearly, the Walton brothers had no fear of being abducted by aliens – quite the reverse. Duane went on:
“Travis and I discussed this many, many times at great length and we both said that [if either ever saw a UFO up close] we would immediately get as directly under the object as physically possible.
We discussed this time and time again! The opportunity would be too great to pass up … and whoever happened to be left on the ground – if one of us didn’t make the grade – to try to convince whoever was in the craft to come back and get the other one. But he [Travis] performed just as we said he would, and he got directly under the object. And he’s received the benefits for it.”
Arch-skeptic Philip J. Klass, who became suspicious when he read in the APRO Bulletin how Travis had answered “No.” to the question: “Before November 5, 1975, were you a UFO buff?”, Klass delved further, only to be told that “Everybody in the family had seen some [UFOs] and he’s been preoccupied with this almost all of his life … Then he made the comment to his mother just prior to this incident that if he was ever abducted by a UFO she was not to worry because he’d be alright.”
Clearly, judging by her reaction to her son’s mysterious disappearance, Mrs Kellett had taken him at his word.”
The Mammoth Book of UFOs
Lynn Picknett, 2001
pages 321-326
The fact that brave Travis interpreted what he and 6 other guys saw as a UFO should not allow us to ignore what was witnessed. 7 people saw something, one quite up close, offering rich descriptions, of what seems to be none other than a Dragon’s Egg!
Does the “ridge” they were working on represent a zone of capacitance where charges accumulate at that point for some reason? Could this same phenomenon recur – at that spot? Are there other such spots where this occurs, putting foresters or other folks in danger, or repeatedly igniting forest fires? Even if this is a rare event, it caused great injury to Walton, both physical and psychological.
This is an important account!
This is a treasure-trove of clues for plasma physicists to study the possibilities of how electric charges can gather and discharge in all sorts of weird and wild ways.
It’s a real shame very few folks investigate the “paranormal” systematically. The site of Travis Walton’s “abduction” could be investigated.
Here we have described for us, in full, with 6 witnesses besides Walton, a proper detailed account of a particular distinct species of dragon. What other species of dragon are there?
“A large number of witnesses of UFOs have reported electromagnetic effects such as gyrating compass needles; the dimming or temporary extinguishment of auto, house, and street lights; the stalling of engines; radar jamming; radio and television interference; and the magnetization of clocks and metal objects. Physical effects on the bodies of observers have included heat blasts, prickling sensations, partial paralysis, and a few cases of minor burns.”
Mysterious Fires and Lights
Vincent Gaddis, 1968, page 33
Walton mentions climbing a ridge up to “Rim Road”. This is Rim Road:
Rim Road is on the Mogollon Rim – a rim on a greater ridge between the Colorado Plateau and the lower lands to the south:
Rim Road is situated just south of the above lettering for “Mogollon Rim”.
So, as with the Flaming Tigress in Bhutan, Travis Walton’s plasma encounter occurred at the ridge between two areas of differing elevation (on the ridge bordering a plateau – at the Colorado and Tibetan plateaus). The Mogollon is a ridge on a ridge.
Now let’s take a look at a map of the frequency of lightning:
Although the concentration of lightning strikes in northern Arizona isn’t centered exactly on the tip-top of the Mogollon Rim, it is clear that the Colorado Plateau in general, is affected by electrical action moreso than surrounding regions.
Just as a lightning rod might attract incoming charge from above, and just as St. Elmo’s Fire is a gathering of plasma and a forewarning of an impending lightning strike, might the tops of ridges/plateaus also witness similar gatherings of plasma?
Might Bhutan, being on a significantly elevated landscape, also be prone to harboring unusual plasma formations?
Probably the best example of these sorts of geologically-constrained or locally-bred dragons, documented in modern times, is the Hessdalen Lights – in the Hessdalen Valley, only 12 kilometers long, in Norway. There are plenty of pictures of “flying saucers” from Hessdalen. But, let’s consider this one:
This “spaceship” is moving at tens of thousands of kilometers per hour.
First of all, what kind of spaceship twirls around in a helix pattern to get anywhere? That’s a terrible design, and the passengers must be dizzy, no? Barf-bags would surely be mandated by both the insurance on the spacecraft, and by the union for alien abductor workers.
Second, look at the size of this inter-galactic spaceship! I’m all for tiny microscopic aliens visiting us – sure, why not? But the theory is that aliens, with humanoid bodies, are visiting us. What, these guys are from “the Mother Ship” waiting in orbit?
Third – what’s the rush? Are these aliens on a strict timetable of abduction and torture?
This is obviously an electrical/plasma phenomenon.
Here is yet another species of dragon.
“Jewels and wires”…
Here’s another wonder – after Hessdalen lights were seen above this spot, while stationary – patterns were formed on the frozen lake surface:
Wow!
Might this be an indication of electric current sheaths passing through at this point, just like the aurorae are banded? If so, just as the polar current-sheaths that produce the aurorae can be in dark-mode at times, without producing any aurorae in glow-mode, so too might these more local current sheaths be in dark mode at (most) times, no?
The Hessdalen valley is a treasure trove of such plasma wonders.
1871
At the peak of solar cycle 11
January 10
An eruption of Ceburrucco volcano in Mexico destroyed three plantations and the villages of Apuarathan, Ithaus and Jaba.
January 15
At Oaxaca, Mexico, a violent and disastrous earthquake occurred, but no lives were lost.
January 18
At Laconia and Lake Village, N. H., seven earthquake shocks were felt.
January 31
Violent eruption at Vesuvius.
February 5
An earthquake and tidal wave at Minititlan, Mexico.
February 18
Great earthquake at the Sandwich Islands, the most severe ever known there. All walls were broken or fell down, the valleys filled with earth, and great rocks from the mountains, the ground cleft open in a thousand places, and the accompanying electric light seen in the eastern sky. Little, if any, loss of life.
February 20 — March 4
Violent earthquakes in Cuba and Haiti. On the 22nd, seven Haitian volcanoes burst into furious eruption.
March 2
Severe earthquake shock at Eureka, Cal., lasting a minute; chimneys toppled over and the walls of buildings cracked.
The volcano Ruwang on Tagulaudang Island, in the Malay Archipelago, broke forth in eruption; inducing a tsunami 125 feet high, which rushed on the land sweeping everything before it. Only three houses remained on the island. Four hundred and sixteen people lost their lives.
March 1-7
Two fire balls in succession, several feet in diameter, fell on the deck of a ship at latitude 40°, longitude 62°[off the eastern seaboard of North America]. They were accompanied with a crash and peal like thunder, and burst with a crimson flame that illuminated all the sea around.
March 7
An earthquake at Hawaii, tore up the ground, shattered houses, and prostrated chimneys.
March 9
Mount Rainier, in Washington territory, which was never a volcano (well, yes, it was, and is), became heated at the top, dissolving snow, throwing off steam and smoke, giving signs of eruption.
March 10
An electric storm at Arequipa, Peru, followed by earthquake shocks.
March 14
The terrible Ruwang volcano (which had broke out on March 2nd in the Malay Archipelago), has now destroyed by flame and lava nearly all the cultivable land on Tagulaudang Island. All who survived the shock are in famine and distress.
March 18
Earthquake in all the north of England.
March 23
A strong earthquake shock all over the British Isles.
March 25
A meteor, so brilliant as to cast a shadow, seen at New York. On the same day, a fire destroys $250,000 worth of property in the city.
In Valparaiso and all Chile: the most severe earthquake felt since 1851, with people hugging the ground, and cracking and shattering all walls.
A new volcano in the sea near Smith's Island, in the north Pacific.
March 31
Magnificent aurora; a great cloud of blood red in the northeast sky; the sight "to be remembered for a lifetime".
During the month a sun-spot of 2.3 million square-miles area was visible.
April 1
Severe shock of earthquake at Melbourne, Australia.
April 2
Two sharp earthquake shocks at San Francisco.
April 3
Vesuvius in violent eruption since March 27.
April 9
An aurora so brilliant and powerful as to suspend the operations of the telegraph in all directions from New York.
April 13
Extraordinary auroral display of red, green, and white colors, with a broad white belt spanning the sky overhead.
April 15
Earthquake in Scotland; ceilings cracked and houses sunk a foot.
May 1
The Island Camiquin in the Philippines, yielding one tenth of the Manilla hemp of the world, thickly inhabited by 26,000 people, was torn in pieces by volcano and earthquake. A crater opened 1500 feet wide — there was a rain of fire — all the forest was set ablaze — 200 persons destroyed, and the rest fled from the island. "It was the most terrible eruption that ever took place in the Philippian group".
May 5
Great landslide at Silver Hill, Bradford, N. H. Several acres covered with rock, earth and debris.
May 21
Earthquake in all Ontario.
A meteorite weighing twelve pounds fell at Searsmont, Maine.
May 20-25
The city of Rhio, on the island of Bintang, the largest of the group of Rhio Islands, was visited by a convulsion that devastated the place, and caused the loss of 400 lives.
June 2
Extraordinary sulphurous cyclone near Mason, Illinois emitting an odour like burning sulphur a mile from its track. It was an inky-hued, revolving cloud, flashing and hissing, with electrical discharges like the sound of gunfire; 80 feet in width, and progressing three miles, ploughing the earth to a depth of six inches, burning with intense heat everything in its path.
June 8
At Zarate in Argentina, during a frightful hurricane, real stones as large as goose eggs fell in a great shower, killing human beings, animals and birds, and causing much havoc.
June 14
A storm of unparalleled violence devastated Oregon, and the telegraph wires charged with fire.
June 16
An aurora that covered the entire heavens.
June 18
So terrible were the electrical disturbances in and around Edinburgh, Scotland, that 20 persons were killed by lightning, and an equal number of buildings struck and consumed. There were floods and hail, and at Shields the lightning discharged a loaded cannon — "never done before".
June 19
Earthquake at Staten Island, Long Island and New Jersey; houses rocked, bells rung, and dizziness produced. It lasted five minutes.
The sinking of a canal bottom in Morris, New Jersey, probably by the earthquake. The water for a mile and a half suddenly disappeared in great holes in and beside the canal.
June 21
Chimneys thrown down by an earthquake at Calistoga, California.
June 28
In Centreville, New York, a black and red, rolling, cyclonic cloud or wind carried a barn roof half a mile, carried apple trees into the air as far as one could see, flashed electric fire, rolling over and over with a frightful roar, and presenting a remarkable phenomenon.
On the same day a gigantic column of fire and cloud moved over the earth near Springfield, Missouri, prostrating and rending everything in its way with frightful fury. "It was the most terribly grand spectacle ever beheld". "Scarcely in the memory of man have tornadoes been more frequent or more fierce, or floods more destructive", said the New York Times.
July 1
The London Times announces that at a recent whirlwind or cyclone in India, people, herds, houses and trees were carried high into the air and dashed down to the earth a mile or two away, every living thing being instantly killed.
July 9
At Ashton, England, a pond, around which 40 persons stood fishing, was struck by lightning. It appeared like a broad ring of liquid fire around all the margin, and then suddenly contracted itself into a narrow compass in the centre of the water and disappeared, leaving the pond violently agitated, some of the anglers were thrown down insensible.
July 19
Earthquake at Wolfboro, New Hampshire, the most violent ever known there; eight shocks occurred, twenty chimneys were thrown down and as many more damaged. The shock was felt all throughout New England.
July 22
The most remarkable aurora ever witnessed observed at Springfield, Massachusetts, and elsewhere.
August 8
The most terrible thunder and lightning storm at Richmond, Virginia, known for years.
Nitro-glycerine in the Hoosac tunnel exploded by lightning, killing three men.
August 9-12
At twenty-five observatories in France were seen at night 10,000 meteors of the August group.
August 12
A large meteor passed over Montreal, leaving a fire-train visible for ten minutes.
August 19
Vast and numerous sun spots seen this week.
August 20-21
Awful hurricane over all the Antilles. On St. Thomas Island, with an area of 5 by 17 miles and a population of 12,000, 6,000 were made houseless, and 150 killed and mangled. 15 ships were wrecked or injured. An earthquake accompanied. At Antigua every estate was damaged; 30 persons were killed and 100 wounded; all the ships wrecked. Abaco Island was swept through by the sea and made two islands, and scores drowned. At Turks Island there was earthquake and hurricane. At Tortola an earthquake and the storm made 7,000 people homeless. At St. Kitts 800 houses were destroyed and 40 estates ruined. Jamaica was shaken by an earthquake. The calamity caused the destruction of hundreds of lives, and perhaps ten million dollars worth of property.
August 5-22
From the 5th to date (17 days), 300 earthquakes were experienced at Iquique, Peru, some very damaging.
August 22
At Ihaugara, in India, on the hills, a cloud-burst and rain-torrent was followed by a thunderbolt that rent and tore the earth in a vast chasm, and all the huts there, with the inhabitants, fifty or sixty persons, were swallowed up in the pit. The Times, of India, says “such a catastrophe has never been known in Sind”.
August 26
All the shores of Michigan seem to be a vast line of conflagration, and the smoke so dense as to hinder navigation and hide the light of the sun.
August 28
Five sharp earthquake shocks at Calcutta.
September 1
Vesuvius in eruption.
The Geysers of Iceland near Hecla become violently agitated; one threw up a column of water eight feet in diameter to a height of 84 feet.
September 7
Extraordinary explosion in the sun seen and described by Professor Young of Dartmouth College. Debris of hydrogen, or masses of solar fire, 5,000 to 15,000 miles long, were projected at a speed of 100,000 miles in ten minutes to a height of 200,000 miles from the solar surface. At night the earth's atmosphere responded with a grand aurora, “one of the finest ever seen.”
The “most dreadful thunder storm ever known” at Yorkshire, England, occurred, and rain fell equal to 233 tons per acre.
September 27
The forest fires of Wisconsin and Michigan sweep over miles and miles with alarming desolation. Forests, crops, buildings, etc., destroyed. In Kewaunee County alone 22 buildings are burnt, and the loss is $6 million. Everything dry as tinder.
October 4
From August 26 to date, Wyoming, Arizona and other states visited by destructive forest fires. For 40 days this devouring element consumed millions of acres of forest in the Rocky Mountains, turning the air black with smoke.
October 6
Great earthquake in all Peru. The city of Iquique shattered, walls cracked, etc. In Terrapecca a great dam and 20 buildings destroyed. Matilla and Pica in the interior totally destroyed, not a house left standing; at Pica a great fire followed. Three other towns suffered badly. Five lives were lost.
Greatest drought in the Western States known for 25 years, and terrible forest fires raging.
October 7
Pensaukee, Wisconsin, is half devoured by the flames of the burning forests; 25 houses and 40 victims to the fire.
October 8-9
A fierce wind, in some places a tornado, swept over all the Western States bordering on the Upper Mississippi where the drought prevails. Strong electrical action pervaded the heated air and accompanied the wind. It drove the flames with great rapidity, and the result was dreadful in the highest degree.
Large conflagration at Chicago, the greatest that had ever occurred there. Four blocks were burned, one woman perished, and the loss was $7 million. An electrical tornado fans the flames of the burning cities, towns and forests of the West, and terrible calamities occur in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.
“The fire which destroyed Peshtigo occurred on the evening of the 8th, and history has never furnished a parallel of its terrible destructiveness. Shortly after the church-going people had returned from the evening service, an ominous sound was heard, like the distant roar of the sea, or of a coming storm. This increased in intensity, and soon the inhabitants became alarmed and apprehensive of coming danger. Balls of fire were observed to fall like meteors in different parts of the town, igniting whatever they came in contact with.
Now bright light appeared in the south-west horizon, gradually increasing till the heavens were aglow with light. But a few moments elapsed after this before the horrible tornado of fire came upon the people, and enveloped them in flame, smoke, burning sand, and cinders. Those who had not now reached the river or some other place of safety were suffocated and burned to a cinder before they could advance a half dozen steps further. God only knows the horror and terrible suffering of the whole town of Peshtigo on that memorable Sunday night. It seemed as if the love of God had been withdrawn from the place, and the fiery fiends of hell had been loosened to wantonly vex and torment the people.
No tongue can tell, no pen can describe, no brush can depict the realities of that night. Exaggeration would be utterly impossible. It defies human ingenuity. It was the destruction of Sodom re-enacted. It seemed as the wickedness of the place had mocked God until his fiery thunderbolts were loosened for its destruction. But now he who had been boldest in sin was first to call upon his Maker for succour…
The character of this fire was unlike any we have ever seen described before. It was a flame fanned by a hurricane, and accompanied with various electrical phenomena. Those that survived the terrible ordeal testify that they received electrical shocks, while they saw electrical flames flash in the air and dance over the surface of the earth around them. But the fury of the flash was past in half an hour, though the fire continued to burn more or less fiercely during the whole night.
To one visiting the locality after the fire, the great wonder is not that so many people should have perished, but that a single individual remains to describe the fearful scene through which he passed. Certainly no one of the few that did escape expected anything but certain destruction at the time. The deadly, withering fire of the battle-field appals the stoutest heart, even though there is a hope that a victory and triumph may be gained. But the enemy that came down on the miserable people of Peshtigo was irresistible. All efforts to oppose it were futile. Hope fled from every heart at the very onset of the storm.”
The Great Fires in Chicago and the West: History and Incidents
anonymous Chicago clergyman
Published by H. S. Goodspeed, 1871
Quoting from the testimony of
The Milwaukee Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association
“Sunday, October 8th, in Peshtigo, passed as other Sundays had. The dense smoke told of fires in almost every direction surrounding the valley; but so they had for weeks, and in general there was no especial fear of impending disaster that night. But we hear of individual cases where a fear of impending danger seemed to take deep root in the mind. It seemed as if a warning of the calamity, although dim and undefined, had been given to some.
The dense smoke could be seen to the south of the town (with) a dull red glare near the horizon. Again a breeze sprang up from the southwest, and the air was hot as a sirocco. Then came a low rumbling noise, like the distant approach of a train of cars. The noise increased to a heavy roar, variously described as like the noise of thunder or a mighty wind, and the startled people rushed into the streets to ascertain the cause … The roar increased, and burning coals began to drop in the village, first like stray meteors of the night, and then as thickly as the snows of winter. Many of the survivors represent that the shower of coals was as dense as a heavy snow storm. In less time than it takes to write it, the wind had reached the force of a tornado, the buildings nearest the woods were on fire, and the very air seemed an atmosphere of flame.
The bridge was soon on fire, and there was an awful scene: parties on each side suffering with the withering heat, and hoping to reach the other, where they fancied they could find safety, but unable to do so. For large numbers of them the river was the only resort, and they plunged in, some to drown and others to escape after enduring the most fearful tortures. Scores failed to reach the river at all. Strangled by the smoke, or foul gases, or both, they fell, and their charred and shrivelled bodies lying on the streets present a ghastly and horrible sight the next morning.
Some were burned to death within a few feet of the river, some in their houses, some in the woods, and some on the roads attempting to escape. But the difficulty of escape was so great that it is almost impossible to comprehend it. Within a half an hour, and some say within ten minutes, of the time the first building caught fire, the entire village was in flames. The great sheets of fire curled and rolled over the ground like breakers on a reef. Overhead, the air seemed to be on fire.”
Sketch of the Great Fires in Wisconsin at
Peshtigo, Sugar Bush, Menekaune, Williamsonville,
and Generally on the Shores of Green Bay.
Frank Tilton
Robinson & Kusterman Publishers
Green Bay, 1871
page 37+
“The atmosphere was heavy and oppressive, strangely affecting the strength and rendering respiration painful and laborious. The only consideration that could have induced me to keep on working when I found it almost impossible to move my limbs, was the fear, growing more strongly each moment into a certainty, that some great catastrophe was approaching.
The crimson reflection in the western portion of the sky was rapidly increasing in size and in intensity; then between each stroke of my pickaxe I heard plainly, in the midst of the unnatural calm and silence reigning around, the strange and terrible noise already described, the muttered thunder of which became more distinct as it drew each moment nearer. This sound resembled the confused noise of a number of cars and locomotives approaching a railroad station, or the rumbling of thunder, with the difference that it never ceased, but deepened in intensity each moment more and more.
The wind, forerunner of the tempest, was increasing in violence, the redness in the sky was deepening, and the roaring sound like thunder seemed almost upon us. It was now time to think of the Blessed Sacrament – object of all objects, precious, priceless, especially in the eyes of a priest … of course I had intended from the first to bring it with me. Hastening then to the chamber containing the tabernacle, I proceeded to open the latter … There was no time to delay, so I caught up the tabernacle with its contents and carried it out.
I re-entered to seek the chalice which had not been placed in the tabernacle, when a strange and startling phenomenon met my view. It was that of a cloud of sparks that blazed up here and there with a sharp detonating sound like that of powder exploding, and flew from room to room. I understood then that the air was saturated with some special gas, and I could not help thinking of this gas lighted up from mere contact with a breath of hot wind, what would it be when fire would come in actual contact with it.
I vainly called my dog who, disobeying the summons, concealed himself under my bed, only to meet death there later. Then I hastened out to open the gate so as to bring forth my wagon. Barely had I laid hand on it, when the wind, heretofore violent, rose suddenly to a hurricane, and quick as lightning opened the way for my egress from the yard by sweeping planks, gate, and fencing away into space. ‘The road is open’, I thought, ‘we have only to start.’
The air was no longer fit to breathe, full as it was of sand, dust, ashes, cinders, sparks, smoke and fire. It was almost impossible to keep one’s eyes unclosed, to distinguish the road, or to recognize people … Some were hastening toward the river, others from it, whilst all were struggling alike in the grasp of the hurricane. A thousand discordant noises rose on the air together. The neighing of horses, falling of chimneys, crashing of uprooted trees, roaring and whistling of the wind, crackling of fire as it ran with lightning-like rapidity from house to house – all sounds were there save that of the human voice. People seemed stricken dumb by terror … The silence of the tomb reigned among the living, nature alone lifted up its voice and spoke.
The whirlwind in its continual ascension had, so to speak, worked up the smoke, dust and cinders, so that, at least, we could see clear before us. The banks of the river as far as the eye could reach were covered with people standing there, motionless as statues, some with eyes staring, upturned towards heaven, and tongues protruded. The greater number seemed to have no idea of taking any steps to procure their safety, imagining, as many afterwards acknowledged to me, that the end of the world had arrived and that there was nothing for them but silent submission to their fate.
It was about ten o’clock when we entered into the river. When doing so I neither knew the length of time we would be obliged to remain there, nor what would ultimately happen to us … Once in the water up to our necks, I thought we would at least be safe from fire, but it was not so; the flames darted over the river as they did over land, the air was full of them, or rather the air itself was on fire.
The terrible whirlwind that had burst over us at the moment I was leaving home had, with its continually revolving circle of opposing winds, cleared the atmosphere. The river was as bright, brighter than by day … When turning my gaze from the river I chanced to look either to the right or left, before me or upwards. I saw nothing but flames; houses, trees, and the air itself were on fire. Above my head, as far as the eye could reach into space, alas! Too brilliantly lighted, I saw nothing but immense volumes of flames covering the firmament, rolling one over the other with stormy violence.
The hour of deliverance from this prison of fire and water had not yet arrived – the struggle was not yet over. A lady who had remained beside me since we had first taken to the river, and who, like all the others, had remained silent till then, now asked me:
“Father, do you not think this is the end of the world?”
“I do not think so,” was my reply, “but if other countries are burned as ours seems to have been, the end of the world, at least for us, must be at hand.”
It is a painful thing to have to speak of scenes which we feel convinced no pen could fully describe nor words do justice to. It was (a few days later), the eleventh of October, Wednesday afternoon, that I revisited for the first time the site of what had once been the town of Peshtigo. Of the houses, trees, fences that I had looked on three days ago nothing whatever remained, save a few blackened posts still standing, as if to attest the impetuous fury of the fiery element that had thus destroyed all before it.”
The Great Peshtigo Fire: An Eyewitness Account
By Reverend Peter Pernin 1874
Reprinted by The State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1971
October 12
Great earthquake in Ecuador. It occurred in Salta, a Republic twice the size of New York, and a population of sixty thousand. Oran, one of the principal towns, was totally destroyed. It disappeared in ten minutes, nothing remained but ruins. The convulsion lasted nine hours, and forty shocks were experienced. In the Province of Jujua the convulsion was very violent, and a volcano burst into eruption.
October 13
Encke's comet makes its first appearance to New Haven astronomers.
October 19
Earthquake in Maine.
October 30
Severe and damaging earthquakes in all the West Indian Islands.
November 9
A brilliant aurora so bright in New York as to “cast shadows”. It was visible everywhere, and seemed in its glorious crimson like an immense fire. In all New England it was one of the most remarkable witnessed for years.
A meteor fell and rolled along the ground beside a traveling carriage at South Easton, Mass.
November 23
Two auroral rings seen encircling the moon in a clear sky at Poughkeepsie, New York.
December 16
Italy reported constantly afflicted with earthquakes, causing both damage and panic.
December 17
An infernal attempt made by incendiaries to burn what remains of Chicago. (Is it the International?)
December 21
A large blue, purple and red meteor visible at Bangor, Maine.