Austy, England: Multiple objects — 30 October 1660
Several persons who were going to Ware Market suddenly saw a terrible flash of
lightning, after which the night became brighter and brighter, until a great fiery thing appeared in the East and ascended. Three star-like objects fell from it vertically. The large object changed to a crescent shape and remained in view until dawn. The same thing was seen by five people going from Hertford to London: they saw the flash of lightning, which was as bright as the noonday sun and made it seem that their horses were on fire. One suspects a fireball or very bright meteor, but the story disproves this hypothesis: “Within a little space, this Body of Fire rose up again into the Air, with a tayl (sic) about a Pole long, and went Eastward, where at last it fixed itself in the sky like a star”.
Source: Mirabilis Annus (1661). Case: W216