Tournai, Belgium — 26 September 1568
Great circles of fire
“Marvelous signs in the sky were seen from the seventh to the twelfth hour in the evening. At first, great circles of fire were seen with rays emerging like suns dragging water (?), afterwards a black cloud was seen and after that, great lights appeared. That being gone, men on horses were seen fighting each other and it seemed as if several musketeers were skirmishing against one another. Sparkles of fire were seen which illuminated the ground with a terrible shine.” A possible interpretation of this case would invoke an aurora borealis, but not enough is precisely known to make that determination, so we keep the event with reservation.
Source: Alex Pinchart, Memoires de Nicolas Soldoyer, as published in Memoires de Pasquier de la Barre et de Nicolas Soldoyer, pour servir a 1 ‘histoire de Tournai (Brussels, 1865), vol. II, 304. Case: W151