THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTINGS REPORT
Date: March 30, 1344
Sighting Time: Between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Day/Night: Dusk
Location: Feldkirch, Austria
Urban or Rural: Feldkirch was (and is) a town, situated in what is now Austria. The chronicle says the incident happened on the Market Alley.
Entity Type: none reported
Entity Description: n/a
Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light) Point or extended luminous source observed at night.
Duration: ?
No. of Object(s): 1
Appearance / Description of the Object(s): “a fearsome fiery chunk in shape, form and size as a bucket or as big as a Metzen” (a grain measuring container) in shape, form, and size
Distance to Object(s): The object fell directly onto the “Market Alley” from the clouds, allowing the local townspeople to observe it closely on the ground
Shape of Object(s): Bucket-shaped or cylindrical (similar to a Metzen)
Size of Object(s): Described as being as large as a bucket or a standard grain measure
Color of Object(s): Fiery / Luminous
Number of Witnesses: Multiple (“the people who ran up”)
Special Features/Characteristics: The object remained on the ground burning for a “pretty long time” before it took flight by itself and ascended back into the clouds
Source: Reported To Think AboutIt Found it here: https://www.stadt-wien.at/lifestyle/mystery/das-erste-ufo-oesterreichs.html
Summary/Description: My translation: “Printed in Feldkirch by Johann Baptista Hummel. M.DC.LXXXV. In the following year of 1344 in Feldkirch before easter on the tuesday of the holy week at night between 7 and 8 o’clock, a fearsome fiery chunk in shape, form and size as a bucket or as big as a Metzen with which the dear grain is measured fell onto the so-called Market Alley from the clouds, the wonder of which the people who ran up saw with great dismay, as they had to be concerned of it as a sign of a great future evil; but this fiery chunk after it stayed there burning for a pretty long time, flew away again in the face of all of them by itself into the clouds, and disappeared there, about which there were held different opinions.”
Original German: „Gedruckt zu Feldkirch ben Johann Baptista Hummel. M.DC.LXXXV. Nächstfolgendes Jahr als 1344 ist zu Feldkirch vor Ostern an dem Dienstag in der Charwoche bei angehender Nacht zwischen 7 und 8 Uhr erschrecklich feuriger Klotz, in Gestalt, Form und Größe eines Kübels oder so groß als ein Metzen, mit welchem das liebe Getreid gemessen wird, auf die sogenannte Marktgasse aus den Wolken herabgefallen, welches Wunder das zulaufende Volk mit großer Bestürzung gesehen, mithin dieses eines zukünftigen großen Übels Zeichen zu sein besorgt hat; aber dieser feurige Klotz nachdem er ziemlich lang also brennend gelegen, ist im Angesichts aller von dannen wiederum von sich selbst in die Luft und Wolken gefahren, auch alldort verschwunden; worüber doch unterschiedliche Meinungen geführt wurden“
Found it here: https://www.stadt-wien.at/lifestyle/mystery/das-erste-ufo-oesterreichs.html
Quoted as the source is the book „Geheimnisvolles Österreich“ by Reinhard Habeck but the original source would be the town chronicle as summarized by Johann Georg Prugger in 1685 from earlier chronicles. (https://historisches-lexikon.li/Prugger,_Johann_Georg “Despite using sources from the city archives, Prugger’s chronicle often appears uncritical and biased.”) It was printed by Johann Baptista Hummel, as mentioned in the text describing the incident.
Interesting context: A few years later, in October 1349, Feldkirch was almost completely destroyed by a fire.
On March 30, 1344, a remarkable aerial event was recorded in the town of Feldkirch, Austria. According to historical chronicles, a “fearsome fiery chunk,” described as being as large as a bucket, fell from the clouds onto the Market Alley. After remaining on the ground burning for a considerable time, the object reportedly flew back into the clouds by itself. Classified as a Nocturnal Light (NL), this encounter remains one of the earliest documented high-strangeness events in Austrian history.
