“Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind”

-Jeremiah 4:13

We often find different patterns formed by the clouds in the sky. Many such cloud formations in the past have been regarded as the chariots in the sky by various ancient historians at different periods. While some believed it as a sign from the God, there were others like the conspiracy theorists who called them as the first UFO sightings in the ancient world.

An artistic depiction of the army in the clouds in A.D. 66. ( Image Source

Army in the Clouds

Titus Flavius Josephus, the Romano-Jewish scholar, historian, and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem during the first century described of having seen an army in the clouds just before the First Jewish-Roman War. Just like Josephus, there were Roman historians Tacitus and Eusebius who explained the phenomenon in their books, Histories (115 AD) and Ecclesiastical History (325 AD) respectively.

The Jewish believed more in the divine cloud formations more than the Romans. Several historical and religious texts have mention of many such incidents involving strange cloud formations and their significant role in the Jewish War. Just like the Jews, the Romans indicated of having seen weird cloud formations during the Roman war in 74 BC against King Mithridates VI and around the 3rd century BC at the second Punic War.

Divine entities helping Roman army. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (1520–24) by Giulio Romano

Chariots in the sky during First Jewish-Roman War

The cloud formations are also said to have influenced the first Jewish-Roman War that was fought under Emperor Nero. Emperor Nero was the last descendant of Roman emperors Julius Caesar and Augustus. Josephus fought against the Roman armies although he was a military governor of Galilee. During the war, Josephus took refuge from the invaders at the site of Jodapatha with forty soldiers. At the time of his trap, Josephus claimed to have a divine revelation from the God.

Jerusalem Temple Mount looking from the east (Mt. of Olives) (Model, Holy Land Hotel, Jerusalem.) ( Image Source

As per the divine revelation, Josephus realized that Vespasian would soon become the emperor. When Vespasian heard this, he released Josephus. Not everyone believed in the divine gift of Josephus. There were many scholars who debated whether Josephus was truly gifted.

While the Jewish-Roman war continued, the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. Soon after this incident, Josephus attributed the incident to a cloud formation in the sky depicting an army of angels riding in chariots and as God’s act of destruction.

Scientists Take on Cloud Formations

Scientists have a different say regarding the cloud formations.

Dr. Richard Stothers (1939–2009), a member of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, suggested that the Romans and Jews might have got used toseeing and interpreting cloud formations in the skies, but these so called chariots were not a divine prophecy or God’s intervention, but early UFO sightings.

Alien conspiracy theorists claim some alleged flying saucers are equipped with a substance that can male a cloud around them say they can hover above us seemingly unnoticed.

In January 2017 Mirror reported a man was convinced he’d spotted a cloud hiding an alien spaceship after he noticed the surface appeared to be ‘reflective’.

Anthony Sakowski was baffled by his discovery, which he spotted in the sky while driving in Arizona.

(Photo: YouTube/Anthony Sakowski)

Although mystery still looms whether these chariots were indeed UFOs, divine armies, weird cloud formations or a myth revolving Josephus’ history, they did play a vital role before the greatest wars that took place back in history.