Celestial phenomenon over Basel
EXPLAINED
A broadsheet printed in Basel by Samuel Coccius reported that at sunrise on August 7, 1566 many large black spheres were seen racing toward the Sun and seeming to fight one another, some turning red and fiery before fading. It also described a blood-red Sun on the mornings and evenings of late July. Together with Nuremberg 1561, it is one of the best-known early-modern "sky battles".
Explanation
Generally read as atmospheric optics (sun halos, a reddened rising sun) or dust and smoke, described in the religious language of a 16th-century broadsheet.
What was seen
Shape: Many black and fiery spheres
Witnesses: Townspeople of Basel (as reported by the broadsheet)
Duration: Sunrise