River Setoml near Kiev, Ukraine — 1066
Red star and little man
The initial story we found stated that “in 1065” a dwarf-like entity was pulled out of the river by a fisherman and thrown back, while local residents observed a strange sign in the sky - a huge star with blood red beams of light. “This phenomenon lasted for seven straight days. It was seen only during the evening. Around the same time a child-like dwarf type entity was found by fishermen in the river Setomi (this river does not exist at present). The dwarf was pulled out of the river in a net. The fishermen kept watch over the strange entity until late afternoon and then threw it back into the river out of fear and repugnancy. The dwarf like entity was very strange with a very wrinkled face and other “shameless” details on his face and body.” Review of this case disclosed several problems: First, the year itself was incorrect: in the “Povest Vremennyh Let” (Tale of Bygone Years) the date of incident is given as 1066. Second, the “star with red beams” was none other than Halley’s Comet! Its nearest approach to the Earth was March 27, 1066. The “monster” was only a deformed child who was dropped in the river Setoml (not Setomi) by his mother. His body was accidentally found by the fishermen (the manuscript clearly stated this). This child even had its genitalia on the face! Russian manuscripts often stated that the birth of “monstrous” children was an omen or a curse for all peoples.
Source: Povest Vremennyh Let (an ancient manuscript), and Dmitri Lavrov in Ukrainian News 18 Feb. 1998. Further research by Mikhail Gershtein, Magonia Exchange (Magoniax) Project. Case: W490