Bede: The Mystery of the Barking Fireball

In the early 8th century there lived in the tiny village of Jarrow, in Northumbria, England a monk named Bede. Bede, who would later acquire the title of "Venerable" was the author of a work entitled An Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It was first published in the year 731. It traces England's history from the time of Julius Caesar up until the age in which Bede himself lived. Bede's work is filled with fascinating accounts of early monarchs and leaders of the church of England. this includes a detailed narrative of the life of Augustine of Canterbury who is sometimes regarded as the father of Christianity in England, just as St. Patrick is in Ireland.

                                             Engraving by Henry Robinson (ca.1783)

       Bede was fond of recording miracles and other portends that supported the tenets of the christian faith. One such account takes place in the year 675 in the town of Barking. This small hamlet at this time in history boasted a cloister which housed a number of nuns. A plague had spread into the men's monastery but had not yet claimed any victims in the nunnery. The head sister was a pragmatist, and knew from experience that it was only a matter of time before the deadly disease took its toll on them as well. She therefore prepared her fellow sisters by asking them where they wanted to be buried when they passed on. The nuns were ambiguous, and could not decide where they wanted their final resting place to be. Bede relates that heaven then decided to solve their dilemma for them. He states that "a light from heaven like a great sheet suddenly appeared and shone over them all." This light caused a degree of anxiety among the sisters, for they were unsure of its meaning. The nuns and monks both watched this light which seemed to linger for a minute before descending toward the south side of the convent where it seemed to pause for yet another short spell before doing something which defies explanation. It shot upwards and out of sight. There was no longer any question in regard to where the nuns were to be buried when they passed. The holy order of Barking would bury their deceased on the south side of the convent just as the light had signaled them to do. They were also somewhat more at ease to learn that their souls would be heading skyward just as the light had.

                                                   Saint Bede (672-735)
      
       This is one fireball that is hard to interpret. It was definitely not some common bolide breaking up in the rough turbulence of our atmosphere. Meteors do not linger, or pause, or change directions, and neither do they defy the Earth's gravity by shooting skyward. A meteor could explain part of this enigmatic early fireball report. If the object seen by the nuns of Barking was a natural stellar body, it is possible that this was an early eyewitness account of what is called a "near miss." It could have been a large asteroid or even a comet that came a hairs length of slamming into the Earth, but because of its tangent with the planet, and its phenomenal rate of speed, it somehow escaped the Earth's gravitational field. We can safely say that this object would have been seen by a great many people, and in all likelihood would have been extremely bright. This is probably why Bede described it as a "great sheet."

       A good example of a "near miss" was the famous fireball seen on August 10, 1972 over much of the western United States and Canada. This object was identified as a good size asteroid which would have caused great devastation if it had actually struck the earth. This fireball was so bright that it was seen in the daytime, and was witnessed by hundreds, if not thousands of people. The Barking fireball could have been one of these monsters, but there is one thing about Bede's report that needs to be explained before we jump to any impetuous conclusion. Remember, the fireball seemed to linger, not just once, but at least twice. How can this be explained? The answer is...it cannot, at least by any natural means. The law of inertia proves this. Simply put, it states that  "A body remains at rest or moves in a straight line unless acted upon by some external force." Now a rock  travels through space at a constant speed. however, when the rock enters the Earth's atmosphere it would encounter turbulence which would slow it down somewhat. This would not be perceptible to the viewer on the ground because the change of speed would be minimal never mind that the rock does not take on its glow until it reaches the Earth's atmosphere and would not be visible anyway until then. The time it takes for the human brain to process this difference in speed, in relation to the eye would make it impossible to detect. This seems to put Bede's report into question. If the Barking fireball was a meteor, either the eyewitnesses were mistaken in some of the details, or Bede screwed up his job of reporting it properly. So if it was not a meteor, what was it? I remain perplexed. If the report is accurate, I can only conclude that the Barking fireball, whatever it was, was of intelligent design. I will say no more on the matter except to refer it to the ufologists who might be interested in examining it further.

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