Renaissance UFO Sighting: Mysterious Flying Objects in Historical Records

Explore possible UFO sightings during the Renaissance era over Germany through mysterious sky objects found in historical texts and early art depicting unidentified flying objects

In the night sky over the city of Dessau, a knight galloping on a horse was allegedly visible approaching the moon in the year 1566

In 1566, on Tuesday, after the feast of Maria Magdalene, which fell on July 23rd that year, at a quarter past nine o'clock in the evening, over the city of Dessau in the duchy of Anhalt, the following celestial phenomenon occurred in the sky and was witnessed by many trustworthy people.

First of all, in the bright, clear sky, near the Moon in its first quarter phase, from noon until the evening, a white eagle with outstretched wings was visible hovering in the air. Under the Moon, after sunset, as this report testifies, a large Knight (Cuirassier) soon appeared in full armor, mounted on a horse of similar form, also dressed in white armor with yellowish clasps on its mouthpiece, shaped like a star.

And the knight on horseback sprinted at full speed as if fleeing, so much so that one could apparently see the spur with which he urged the horse forward. As the horse rushed ahead, it unfurled behind him a long, undulating, and flowing tail that leaned somewhat towards the knight's body. But before the knight got to the eagle, he pulled the bridle, which he fiercely held in his fists, and promptly changed direction.

Nevertheless, he hurried to the Moon, and as he approached it, he suddenly stopped. Soon the knight and his horse disappeared. The eagle, however, remained in its previous place for a while, before finally vanishing as well.

Translated from the original medieval German and Latin by Matus Taratuta©

Our Evaluation of the Alleged UFO Sighting

The extraordinary aerial event reported over Dessau in 1566 strongly aligns with what modern interpretations might classify as a UFO encounter. The sighting, witnessed by numerous credible observers, involved surreal and technologically suggestive imagery—a radiant white eagle hovering motionless near the Moon, and a fully armored knight on horseback, both described with astonishing clarity and movement. 

The knight’s sudden appearance, detailed armor, dynamic motion, and eventual vanishing act near the Moon resemble patterns commonly reported in contemporary UFO sightings, where flying objects exhibit intelligent behavior and unexplained aerial maneuvers. The precise documentation of this Renaissance-era incident, long before the invention of aircraft, raises the possibility that early civilizations may have recorded unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) using the symbolic language and imagery of their time, hinting at a long history of UFO sightings.

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