1 CE – 499 CE: UFO|UAP & Alien Sightings Archive

The 1 CE – 499 archive covers the height and eventual fracture of the Classical Era, a period where “High Strangeness” was meticulously recorded by the era’s greatest historians, including Josephus, Tacitus, and St. Augustine. This era is technically significant for its recurring reports of “aerial armies” and “burning shields,” documented across the Roman Empire and Imperial China. From the chariots in the clouds over Judea to the luminous cross of Constantine, the archive documents a phenomenon that frequently intersected with major geopolitical and religious shifts.

For the serious researcher, the 1 CE – 499 data offers granular detail on non-human biological entity (NHBE) variations, including “star-gods” with flashing eyes and “angelic” figures emerging from pottery-shaped craft. The transition from aerial observation to direct physical interaction is prevalent during these centuries, with reports of localized electromagnetic (EM) signatures—described as “fiery rays” or “terrible vibrations”—that affected large crowds and military formations.

Date: 34 CE
Location: China
Summary: A white, round object accompanied by 10 small stars flies overhead. This could refer to a train of meteors, but the pattern is unusual if “accompanied” means that the ten small stars were flying in some sort of formation with the main object.
Source: Edouard Biot, Catalogue des etoiles filantes et des autres météores observés en Chine pendant 24 siecles (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1846).

Date: 60 CE
Location: Scotland
Summary: A ‘ship’ was seen speeding across the night sky.
Source:

Date: 61 CE
Location: China
Summary: Han Emperor Mingti, who had heard of Buddhism, had a vision of a golden figure floating in a halo of light – interpreted as a flying Apsara (Buddhist angel). Some sources present this vision as a dream, others as an “apparition.” Arthur Lillie mentions it as a “golden man, a spirit named Foe,” while Gray calls it “a foreign god entering his palace.” Whatever it was, the visionary being was interpreted by the Emperor’s wise men, including Minister Fu Yi, to be the Buddha himself. Consequently, an envoy was sent to India to learn about the new religion, returning with sacred Buddhist texts and paintings as well as Indian priests to explain the teachings of the Buddha to the Emperor. Fig.: Flying apsara: painting from the Mogao caves, China
Source: John Henry Gray, China, a History of the Laws, Manners and Customs of the People (Courier Dover: 2003), 106; Arthur Lillie, Buddhism in Christendom or Jesus the Essene (London: K. Paul, Trench, 1887), 188

Date: 70, May 21 CE
Location: Jerusalem
Summary: “On the 21st of May a demonic phantom of incredible size…for before sunset there appeared in the air over the whole country chariots and armed troops coursing through the clouds and surrounding the cities.”
Source: Josephus “Jewish War” Book CXI

Date: 75 CE
Location: skies of Judea.
Summary: Perhaps one of the best-recorded ancient sightings was that by Josephus in AD 75. According to his account, a mysterious and unnerving spectacle occurred over the skies of Judea. Josephus claimed, “Chariots and troops of soldiers in their Armor were seen running about among the clouds.” He would state the encounter to be “a miraculous phenomenon, passing belief. ”What is also interesting about the recording of this particular sighting is the awareness of Josephus that he might not be believed. Fortunately, there were other witnesses to the event, as Josephus writes that it would likely have been “deemed a fable were it not for the narratives of eyewitnesses” who had seen it, too. Furthermore, the events had taken place around the entire country as “armed battalions hurtling through the clouds” were witnessed over every city. Also, “great noise” rained down from above, causing “quakes” on the ground. Roman historian Tacitus mentioned the event in his writings, stating, “In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armor.” As crazy as it sounds, it would appear that what is being described is an aerial conflict.”
Source:

Date: 80 CE
Location: Caledon Wood, Scotland
Summary: “When the Roman emperor, Agricola was in Scotland, wondrous flames were seen in the skies over Caledon Wood, all one winter night. Everywhere the air burned, and on many nights, when the weather was serene, a ship was seen in the air moving fast.”
Source: Conr Wolfhart, Lycosthenes (Medieval reporter/writer)

Date: 98 CE
Location: Rome
Summary: “At sunset, a burning shield passed over the sky at Rome. It came sparkling from the west and passed over to the east.”
Source: Conr Wolfhart, Lycosthenes (Medieval reporter/writer)

Date: 150 CE
Location: Via Campana, Italy
Summary: Although there are doubts due to the fact of him being the only witness, the brother of Pope Pius I is said to have seen a UFO around AD 150 in Via Campana, Italy. The sighting took place in the middle of the afternoon, which, according to the witness, was a bright, sunny day. Out of nowhere, an object, described by the brother as “a beast,” descended downward. It was in the shape and color of “a piece of pottery” and had a top of multiple colors which shot out “fiery rays. ”The object landed on the ground, causing clouds of dust to appear. When they had a cleared, “a maiden clad in white” was visible near the object. Nothing more is told, although modern UFO researchers have documented many claims of “angelic aliens” dressed all in white. Might this have been one of them?
Source:

Date: 187 CE
Location: Rome, Italy
Summary: “We re in Herodian that in the time of Commodus stars were seen all the day long, and that some stretched in length, hanging as it were in the midst of the air, which was a token of a cloud not kindled but driven together: for it seemed kindled in the night, but in the day when it was far off it vanished away.”
Source: Lycosthenes, Julii Obsequentis Prodigiorum Liber…per Conrum Lycosthenem Rubeaquensem integrati suae restitutus (Basel, 1552).

Date: 195 CE
Location: Corby New Town, UK
Summary: Close encounter with a craft and its occupants. One object, about 1 foot across, was observed by one female witness at a building. 
Source: FSR Case Histories

Date: 195 CE
Location: Rome Italy
Summary:  “I shall now speak of what happened outside, and of the various rebellions. For three men at this time, each commanding three legions of citizens and many foreigners besides, attempted to secure the control of affairs – Severus, Niger, and Albinus. The last-named was governor of Britain, Severus of Pannonia, and Niger of Syria. These, then, were the three men portended by the three stars that suddenly came to view surrounding the sun when Julianus in our presence was offering the Sacrifices of Entrance in front of the senate-house.” These stars were so very distinct that the soldiers kept continually looking at them and pointing them out to one another, while declaring that some dreadful fate would befall the emperor. As for us, however much we hoped and prayed that it might so prove, yet the fear of the moment would not permit us to gaze up at them except by furtive glances.” 
Source: Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Dio’s Rome: An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimus Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus, trans. Herbert Baldwin Foster (Troy, New York, 1905), vol. 9, 151.

Date: 0214: Rome, Italy Sighting

Date: 0216: Cannes, France Sighting

Date: 235 CE
Location: Weinan, China
Summary: The army of Emperor Hou Chu saw a red object with pointed rays that flew over them three times. This case is reported in a compilation of “shooting stars and meteors,” but the notion of an ordinary meteor returning three times to fly over an army stretches credulity.
Source: Edouard Biot, Catalogue des etoiles filantes et des autres météores observes en Chine pendant 24 siecles (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1846).

Date: 240 CE
Location: Che-chiang Province, China
Summary: “Under the Emperor Ta Ti of the Wu dynasty ( 228-251), in the seventh month of the third year of the Ch’ih-wu era, there was a certain Wang Shuh who gathered medicinal herbs on T’ien Tai Mountain. At the hottest time of the day he took a rest under a bridge, when suddenly he saw a little blue boy, over a foot long, in the brook. ” The boy held a blue rush in his hand and rode on a red carp. The fish entered a cloud and disappeared little by little. “After a good while Shuh climbed upon a high mountain top and looked to all four sides. He saw wind and clouds arising above the sea, and in a moment a thunderstorm broke forth. Suddenly it was about to reach Schuh, who terrified hid himself in a hollow tree. When the sky cleared up, he again saw the red carp on which the boy rode and the little boy returning and entering the brook. It was a black kiaol
Source: Dr. M. W. De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan (Amsterdam: Johannes Muller, 1913), 80-81. Visser quotes from “the Wuki” A Kiao is a “scaled dragon.”

Date: 260 CE
Location: China
Summary: At a time when the government of Wu faced critical dangers, during the reign of Sun Hsiu (258 to 263) the generals of border garrisons used to leave their wives and children (known as “hostage children”) as pledges of loyalty. It was not unusual for a dozen of these children to play together. The record goes on: “A strange child suddenly joined the hostage children in their play. He was less than four feet tall, dressed in dark clothes, and appeared to be between six and seven years old. None of the other children recognized the newcomer, so they asked him, “To what family do you belong, that you should suddenly appear among us?” “I came only because you seemed to be enjoying yourselves so much,” was the reply. On closer examination, it was noticed that light rays from the stranger’s eyes flashed brilliantly, and the other children began to be afraid. They asked him about his past. “Do you fear me, then?” he asked. “Don’t. Though I am not human, I am the star-god Yunghuo (Mars) and have come to deliver a message to you: The Three Lords will return to Ssu-ma.’ “The children were startled, and some ran off to tell their parents. The adults arrived in haste to witness all this, but the visitor said, ‘I must leave you.’ So saying, he propelled his body upward and transformed himself. “The children looked up and watched him rise to the heavens leaving what appeared to be a great train of flowing silk behind him. Some of the adults arrived in time to watch him drifting gradually higher. A moment later, he vanished.” 
Source: In the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period (222-280), cited in In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, trans. Kenneth J. DeWoskin and J. I. Crump (Stanford University Press: 1996), 110. 

Date: 312 CE
Location:
Summary: Constantine and his army all beheld in the heavens a luminous cross.. He claimed to have been shown a cross on the Sun as a sign from Christ that he would triumph over Maxentius.
Source:

Date: 314 CE
Location: China
Summary: The Sun came down to the ground and three other suns rose together over the western horizon and “flew together towards the East.”
Source: Shi Bo, La Chine et les Extraterrestres (Paris: Mercure de France: 1983), 47. We have not been able to find an original source for this case.

Date: 334 CE
Location: Antioch, Turkey
Summary: “In Antioch a star appeared in the eastern part of the sky during the day, emitting much smoke as though from a furnace, from the third to the fifth hour” The duration of the phenomenon precludes a comet, but it was seen too long for a meteor.
Source: Theophanes, Chronographia, trans. C. Mango & R. Scott, with G. Greatrex, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern History 284-813 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), 49.

Date: 350 CE
Location: Emesa, Syria
Time:
Summary: In Ancient Greece, where meteorology played an important role in religion and scientific philosophy, claims involving strange aerolites abound. Damaskios, in his book, The Life Isidorus, relates that one sacred baetylus (meteorite) was kept by a man named Eusebius, who acquired it in strange circumstances. A Byzantine scholar called Photios, who lived in the 9th century ., described the story in his own writings. The following is from Arthur Bernard Cook’s Zeus, A Study in Ancient Religion, Vol. Ill, 888: “This man stated that there h once come upon him a sudden and much unexpected desire to roam at midnight away from the town of Emesa as far as he could get towards the hill on which stands the ancient and magnificent temple of Athena. So he went as quickly as possible to the foot of the hill, and there sat down to rest after his journey. Suddenly he saw a globe of fire leap down from above, and a great lion standing beside the globe. The lion vanished immediately, but he himself ran up to the globe as the fire died down and found it to be the baetylus  He took it up and asked it to which of the gods it might belong. It replied that it belonged to Gennaios, the Noble One.’ He took it home the self-same night, traveling, so he said, a distance of over 210 furlongs. …It was, he says, an exact globe, whitish in color, three handbreadths across. 
Source: Arthur Bernard Cook, Zeus, a study in ancient religion (Cambridge University Press, 1914), vol. 3, 888.

Date: May 7, 351 CE
Location: Jerusalem
Time:
Summary: Hermias Sozomen, in his Ecclesiastical History, notes that “At the time Cyril succeeded Maximus in the government of the church of Jerusalem, the sign of the cross appeared in the heavens; its variance was not feeble and divergent like that of comets, but splendid and concentrated. Its length was about fifteen stia from Calvary to the Mount of Olives, and its breadth was in proportion to its length “So extraordinary a phenomenon excited universal terror.” He also stated it was visible for several days and was brighter than the sun.
Source:  The Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, compiled by Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, trans. Edward Walford (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855), 49. The Byzantine text Chronicon Paschale provides the date of May 7th.

Date: 393 CE
Location: Rome
Time:
Summary:   Strange lights were seen in the sky in the days of the Emperor Theodosius. On a sudden, a bright globe appeared at midnight. It shone brilliantly near the daystar (planet, Venus), about the circle of the zodiac. This globe shown little less brilliantly than the planet, and little by little, a great number of other glowing orbs drew near the first globe. The spectacle was like a swarm of bees flying around the beekeeper, and the light of these orbs was as if they were dashing violently against each other. Soon, they blended together into one awful flame, and bodied forth to the eye as a horrible two-edged sword. The strange globe which was first seen now appeared like the pommel to a handle, and all the little orbs, fused with the first, shone as brilliantly as the first globe.”
Source: Conr Wolffhart

Date: 396 CE
Location: Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey
Time:
Summary: St. Augustine wrote that “At the beginning of the night as the world was being darkened, a fiery cloud was seen from the East, small at first then, as it approached the city, gradually enlarging, until it hung terribly over the whole city All fled to the Church; the place did not hold the people. But after that great tribulation, when God he credited His word, the cloud began to diminish and at last disappeared. “The people, freed from fear for a while, again heard that they must migrate, because the whole city would be destroyed on the next Sabbath. The whole people left the city with the Emperor; no one remained in his house.” The city was saved. “What shall we say?” ds Augustine. “Was this the anger of God, or rather His mercy?”
Source: Albert Barnes, Minor Prophets I (Michigan: Baker Books, 1985), 414. Augustine doesn’t give a date, but 16th century ecclesiastical historian Caesar Baronius said it was 396. It isn’t known how he reached this conclusion.

Date: 398 CE
Location: Byzantine Empire
Summary: “A thing like a burning globe, presenting a sword, shown brilliantly in the sky over the city. It seemed almost to touch the earth from the zenith. Sucha thing was never recorded to have been seen before by man.”
Source:

Date: 400 CE
Location: Egypt
Summary: Pandorus, an Egyptian monk wrote: “From the creation of am, indeed down to Enoch and to the general Cosmic Year 1,282, the number of days was known in neither months nor year but the Egregori (‘watchers’ or ‘angels’) descended to Earth in the general Cosmic Year 1,000, held converse with men and taught them that the orbits of the two luminaries being marked by the 12 signs of the Zodiac are composed of 360 parts.”
Source:

Date: 418 CE
Location: Asia Minor
Summary: A solar eclipse followed by a bright meteor in the shape like a cone.
Source: Philostorgius, Ecclesiastical History (Epitome), Book XII, chap. 8. 

Date: 438 CE
Location: Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey
Summary: An earthquake has destroyed Constantinople; famine and pestilence are spreing. The cataclysm has leveled the walls and the fifty-seven towers. Now comes a new tremor, even stronger than all the previous ones. Nicephorus, the historian, reports that in their fright the inhabitants of Byzantium, abandoning their city, gathered in the countryside: “They kept praying to beg that the city be spared total destruction: they were in no lesser danger themselves, because of the movements of the earth that nearly engulfed them, when a miracle quite unexpected and going beyond all credence filled them with migration.”
“In the midst of the entire crowd, a child was suddenly taken up by a strong force, so high into the air that they lost sight of him. After this, he came down as he h gone up, and told Patriarch Proclus, the Emperor himself, and the assembled multitude that he h just attended a great concert of the Angels hailing the Lord in their sacred canticles. ” Acacius, the bishop of Constantinople, states, The population of the whole city saw it with their eyes.’ And Baronius, commenting upon this report, ds the following words: “Such a great event deserved to be transmitted to the most remote posterity and to be forever recorded in human memory through its mention every year in the ecclesiastical annals. For this reason the Greeks, after inscribing it with the greatest respect into their ancient Menologe, re it publicly every year in their churches.'” 
Source: This story has been collected and published by writers for many centuries. The version quoted here is by 14th century chronicler Nicephorus Callistus, but versions can be found in a letter by Acacius, Patriarch of Constantinople (d.489) to Peter Fullo, Patriarch of Antioch, and also in a letter by Pope Felix III (483-492) to the same Peter Fullo. The story in itself serves as the founding story for the origin of the Trisagion hymn of the Greek Church. The different versions agree on most details except the precise year and the fate of the raised child.

Date: 457 CE
Location: Brittany , France
Summary: Conr Wolffart, known as Lycosthenes, a professor at the University of Basel, Switzerland, from 1539, recorded that in 457 , over Brittany in northern France, ‘a blazing thing like a globe was seen in the sky. Its size was immense, and on its beams hung a ball of fire like a dragon out of whose mouth proceeded two beams, one of which stretched beyond France, and the other reached toward Ireland, and ended in fire, like rays.’
Source:

Date: 0460 CE: Katsuragi Mountain, Japan Encounter

Date: 497 CE
Location: British Isles
Summary: An immense globe appeared in the sky. A second ball of fire came from its rays, projecting two beams: “During these transactions at Winchester, there appeared a star of wonderful magnitude and brightness, darting forth a ray, at the end of which was a globe of fire in the form of a dragon, out of whose mouth issued forth two rays; one of which seemed to stretch out itself beyond the extent of Gaul, the other towards the Irish sea, and ended in seven lesser rays.” There is some doubt about the date here because Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote it coincident with Ambrosius’ death. Scholars disagree about the date of this event, suggesting either 473 or, according to Roger of Wendover, 497.
Source: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, VIII, ch. 14; Lycosthenes, Julii Obsequentis Prodigiorum Liber…per Conrum Lycosthenem Rubeaquensem integrati suae restitutus (Basel, 1552).

Date: CE
Location:  
Time:  
Summary: 
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Executive Summary: The Jerusalem Chariots and Rome’s Burning Shields

The 1 CE – 499 archive is headlined by the Jerusalem Chariot Wave of 70 CE. Historian Flavius Josephus recorded a “miraculous phenomenon, passing belief” where chariots and armed troops were seen coursing through the clouds throughout the entire country. This case is technically vital for its multi-witness validation and the physical side effects—including “great noise” and ground “quakes”—which mirror modern UAP propulsion signatures.

Simultaneously, the Via Campana encounter (150 CE) provides a foundational Close Encounter of the Third Kind (CE3). The brother of Pope Pius I reported a pottery-shaped object with a multi-colored top that descended in a bright flash, followed by the appearance of a “maiden clad in white.” These events, combined with the “Star-God Yunghuo” in China (260 CE), confirm a centuries-long pattern of synchronized incursions targeting strategic cultural centers and high-ranking religious officials.

“Chariots and troops of soldiers in their Armour were seen running about among the clouds… a miraculous phenomenon, passing belief.”

Josephus, AD 75