I've been reading about the Marian apparition which occurred in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. This event was rigorously investigated by the Roman Catholic church, and ultimately sanctioned by it. Along with the claimed appearance of the Virgin Mary (or Lady of the Rosary as she called herself) to three young girls, thousands of spectators ranging from townspeople to doctors and lawyers bore witness to strange aerial phenomenon.

As I understand there were at least a handful of events in which luminous and color changing orbs seemed to travel in the air above Fatima. Here is one an account given by Mgr. J. Quaresma an eyewitness to the events.

"To my surprise, I see clearly and distinctly a globe of light advancing from east to west, gliding slowly and majestically through the air...Suddenly the globe with its extraordinary light vanished, but near us a little girl of about ten con- tinues to cry joyfully: 'I still see it! I still see it! Now it is going down!'"

As I understand, it was overcast during on one particular day. It is a fact that the sun was initially hidden behind the clouds, but witnesses say the clouds parted to reveal a miracle. Not only could the crowd that gathered in Fatima attest to witnessing this, it was seen within a radius of several miles. Here is a quote from Joaquim Lourenco, who witnessed the event from a neighboring town.

"I feel incapable of describing what I saw, I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt my eyes. Looking like a ball of snow, revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zig-zag, menacing the earth. Terrified, I ran and hid myself among the people, who were weeping and expecting the end of the world at any moment."