Uxbndge, England — 4 November 1322
A pillar with a red flame
“In the first hour of the night there was seen in the sky over Uxbridge a pillar of fire the size of a small boat, pallid, and livid in color. It rose from the south, crossed the sky with a slow and grave motion, and went north. Out of the front of the pillar, a fervent red flame burst forth with great beams of light. Its speed increased, and it flew thro’ the air…Many beholders saw it in collision, and there came blows as of a fearful combat, and sounds of crashes were heard at a distance.” We note that an object moving with a “slow and grave motion” could have been neither a comet nor a meteor.
Source: Flores Historiarum attributed to Robert of Reading, Rerum Brittannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores 95, v. 3: 210-211. Case: W075