France — 24 July 1239
A great light, ascending
“On July 24, 1239, at dusk, but not when the stars came out, while the air was clear, serene and shining, a great star appeared. It was like a torch rising from the south, and flying on both sides of it, there was emitted in the height of the sky a very great light. It turned quickly towards the north in the aerie region, not quickly, nor, indeed, with speed, but exactly as if it wished to ascend to a place high in the air. ” This sequence of motion is not typical of a natural phenomenon, and it certainly was not a “star.”
Source: Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora (London: Longman, 1880), vol. 3, 566. 113. Case: W064