Case file · Sighting
Golden globe of fire at Spoletium
Obsequens (ch. 54) reports for 91 BC that near Spoletium a golden globe of fire fell to earth spinning, grew larger, then rose from the ground towards the east and covered the sun.
91 BCE · 42.73, 12.74 · status: legend
The account
It is one of the most quoted 'ancient UFO' passages. The same year Obsequens has a roar and a fireball in the northern sky at sunrise on Aenaria (Ischia).
The sceptical view
A meteor or bolide, possibly blended with other reports, in a year of crisis just before the Social War.