In the West, there are several ancient records of halo phenomena left by the superstitious Romans. As early as 464 BCE, there are notes of light phenomena such as parhelia, light pillars, crosses, and rings. The year 223 BCE brought the first record of paraselenae: "Three moons" were seen in Ariminium, today's Rimini. Parhelia were initially also referred to as moons. In the year 217 BCE, "also two moons" were seen during the day. In the same year, the "moon seemed to fight with the sun". This report seems to relate more to the coexistence of the sun and parhelion than to a solar eclipse.
In the year 345 BCE, a "burning torch", probably the first documented light pillar, guided the Corinthian Timoleon on his way to Syracuse. The first indisputable observation of rings, two concentric sun rings, is from 203 BCE from Frusino, the first simultaneously with "three suns" is known from Rome in the year 174 BCE.
The 37th book of Historia Naturalis by the Roman naturalist C. Plinius Secundus contains a brief summary of several halo observations in antiquity and reflects the knowledge of halo phenomena at that time:
The Babylonians (B.C.E.) attached great significance to halo phenomena, as well as to halos and coronas around the sun and moon. They believed that what had occurred once would also recur cyclically. Any strange phenomenon deviating from the normal course was considered an expression of heavenly influences, induced by gods or spirits.
Around 95 C.E., Brother John was on the island of Patmos on the Lord's Day when God instructed him to write down his observations and send them to his seven communities in Asia Minor. His observed celestial visions, which went down in history as the Revelation of John, are likely also mostly halo phenomena.
In old miracle books, alongside earthquakes and comets, halo phenomena occasionally appear. The light cross in 312, which before the battle on the Milvian Bridge announced victory to the Roman Emperor Constantine and in reality helped bring Christianity to its final victory through him, was probably nothing other than such a light phenomenon of the atmosphere.
In an Indian encyclopedia from the 6th century "Brihat Samhita," the author compiled verses that, among other things, contain comments on halos: A parhelion on the north side of the sun predicts rain, in the south a strong wind, and on both sides of the sun means the danger of water, probably meaning floods.
In the books of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), numerous celestial visions can be traced back to halo phenomena.
The first Chinese halo observations date from 249-420 A.D. In the 11th century, imperial meteorologists in ancient China were required to observe halos, corona phenomena, rainbows, and other optical phenomena. At a time when halo phenomena in Europe were indeed observed but hardly described in detail, it is characteristic of the relatively high level of Chinese natural description that more than 26 technical terms were used for halos.
Interesting are passages in the official history of the Jin Dynasty "Jin Shu," which already appeared in 635 A.D. Numerous halo types were described and interpreted there with remarkable intensity. Halos with parhelia and contact arcs were considered evil signs and suggested conspiracies by ministers, among others. The city gates should be closed after observing these phenomena, and all travel should be refrained from.
The first correct drawing of a halo phenomenon dates from 1233. On April 8 of that year, "four parhelia appeared in the areas of Hereford and Worcester in the sky, besides the natural sun, of reddish color. A large circle of crystal-clear color, about 2 feet wide, enclosed all of England, as it were. From its sides, semicircles emerged, at whose intersection points the mentioned four suns appeared, while the true sun stood in the east, in the clearest sky." This appearance was observed by several. One was Bishop John of Hereford, who had the appearance sketched by the "extraordinarily astute and talented" chaplain Canonicus Wilielmus.
A significant source of popular folk belief is the so-called single-sheet prints. Many prints are still available today; the Wikiana collection (1028 colored pen drawings and 431 single-sheet prints) by the Zurich clergyman Hans Jakob Wik (1522-1588) is the largest collection from the 16th century. The flyers collected by Wik show how people in the late Middle Ages became acquainted with wondrous phenomena between heaven and earth, which were often considered harbingers of wars, crimes, and catastrophes, or terrible signs of heaven and earth, devilry and witchcraft, prophecies, miraculous figures, etc. The authors were predominantly clergymen but often remained anonymous. It often happened that the authors of the flyers combined multiple phenomena, resulting in a complicated picture not observable in nature. For this reason, and the fact that many artists exercised their creative freedom and some pictures were made based only on hearsay, these pictorial representations of halos are not considered scientifically exact and credible sources.
Among the most remarkable recorded halo phenomena is the "Roman Phenomenon" of March 20, 1629, observed by Jesuit Father Christoph Scheiner (1573-1650) in Rome. Also famous are the "Danzig" or "Hevelian Phenomenon" of February 20, 1661, observed by the Danzig astronomer Johann Hevelius (1611-1687), the "St. Petersburg Phenomenon" or "Lowitz Phenomenon," pursued and recorded by the chemist and pharmacist Johann Tobias Lowitz in St. Petersburg on July 18, 1790, and finally the Parry Phenomenon. This was perceived by the English captain Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855), who commanded one of the ships of the expedition conducted by Sir John Ross (1777-1856) to discover the Northwest Passage, which lasted from May 1819 to November 1820.
A first explanation of the halo phenomena around the sun and moon through reflection and refraction of light on ice needles in high layers of the atmosphere was given by Descartes in the mid-17th century.
More precise explanations and naming of the various halo types were only provided at the beginning of the 20th century, e.g., in the work "Meteorological Optics" published in 1910, authored by the Austrian meteorologists Joseph Maria Pernter (1848-1908) and Felix Maria Exner (1876-1930).