(ETH) – Experts are warning that a major solar storm that struck the earth and lit up the sky “like a great fire” in the year 1582 could happen again in the next 100 years according to new findings.
According to the report form The Sun, experts at Cornell University presented two records of the cosmic bedlam made by Portuguese observers at the time.
The findings revealed that the major solar event illuminated the sky in violent red light for at least three consecutive nights.
A second source recounts that part of the sky “appeared burning in fire flames” sparking “dread and fear” among eye-witnesses.
These vivid descriptions also match similar accounts of strange night time lights that were reported in Japan, Germany and dozens of other cities across Europe and Asia.
These researchers have attributed this great space weather event of March 1582 to a major solar storm that struck the Earth.
Solar storms are powerful enough to cause havoc on Earth by sending electronic equipment into disarray. Such catastrophic events have transpired in the past. One such event happened in 1859 and to this day is widely believed to be the most extreme space weather event on record.
This event was seen by man who gave accounts of what took place when this event occurred. The event called the Carrington event caused spark explosions from pylons across the US, while telegraph operators also reported suffering severe electric shocks.
There was also an event that sparked a massive blackout and plunged large in 1921.
Another well-documented storm in 1921 triggered a blackout plunging large parts of the northeastern United States into darkness in complete darkness.
The deadly event that occurred in 1852 that was labeled a “severe storm” – sparked a great aurora according to climate records obtained. The event produced Northern Lights that swept as far down as Portugal.
The first report is preserved at the District Archive of Évora, Portugal. A translation of the text reads: “[Lisbon] In 1582, on 6 March, a great fire appeared in the sky at the north and lasted three nights.”
Other records of this aurora can be found in a manuscript penned by Pero Ruiz Soares, an eyewitness in Lisbon, and the author of a 16th-century Portuguese chronicle.
A translation reads: “… in March 1582, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday [6th March], something started in the north band of the sky.
“All that part of the sky appeared burning in fire flames; it seemed that the sky was burning […] and nobody remembered having seen something like that.”
It continues: “At midnight, great fire rays arose above the castle which were dreadful and fearful.
“The following day, it happened the same at the same hour but it was not so great and terrifying. “Everybody went to the countryside to see this great sign.”
