1520 CE · 1 / 26
Cortés' Mexican Sky Serpent
Spanish conquistador reports a luminous serpent-like object crossing the sky over Tenochtitlan.
Mexico City, Mexico
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UFO TIMELINE · PERIOD 5
Early Modern — 1500 CE – 1800 CE
Renaissance, Age of Exploration, and Enlightenment era chronicles of unexplained aerial phenomena from around the world.
INTERPRETIVE CONTEXT · REPORTED ACCOUNTS AND ALTERNATIVE READINGS, NOT ESTABLISHED CONCLUSIONS · 26 EVENTS
- 1520 CE
Cortés' Mexican Sky Serpent
Spanish conquistador reports a luminous serpent-like object crossing the sky over Tenochtitlan.
Mexico City, Mexico - 1528 CE
Cabeza de Vaca's Desert Lights
Spanish explorer documents strange lights following his expedition across North America.
Texas/New Mexico, USA 
1561 CENuremberg Celestial Phenomenon
Mass sighting of aerial battle between spheres, crosses, and tubes over the German city.
Nuremberg, Germany- 1566 CE
Basel Celestial Phenomenon
Citizens witness black spheres moving at high speed across the sky at dawn.
Basel, Switzerland