The Fear of Doomsday Fell on Us A Balloon fell on Bihke just as

Death is the one and only reality upon which people of all thoughts and convictions would agree beyond dispute. Man’s life on earth will certainly come to an end one day. Therefore, everyone is curious about their future and wonders when and how they will die. Likewise, it is an object of great interest how the phenomenon called doomsday, which is supposed to bring the end of mankind on earth to an end and named the Day of Judgment by monotheistic religions, will come about. Doomsday means the death of all mankind and living beings. According to monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, when doomsday is about to occur, the cycle and operation of the universe will break down and extraordinary events will take place. On account of this presupposition, people had a feeling in different periods of history that the doomsday was imminent in the face of incidents or phenomena that they could not make sense of. Sometimes a severe earthquake, invasion by an enemy, an epidemic illness, an object seen in the sky that could not be explained were considered to mean that doomsday was close at hand. In this sense, incidents of warning that interrupted or changed the routines of life and terrorized masses were regarded as omens of doomsday. In this study, the reasons of fear and bewilderment caused by a balloon that landed on the Castle of Bihke in the Bosnia Province of the Ottoman State will be investigated. For people who had not seen anything other than birds, bats and insects in the sky throughout their lives, this strange object that fallen from the sky represented an event that was out of the normal routine of life and accordingly was taken to mean a sign of doomsday