Ancient Reports of Darkness During the Crucifixion

Writing around 52 CE, the historian Thallus attempted to explain a darkness over the land as a solar eclipse — though eclipses can't occur during Passover's full moon. His work survives only in fragments quoted by Julius Africanus around 221 CE. Separately, Phlegon of Tralles recorded an extraordinary darkness and earthquake in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (32-33 CE). While scholars debate interpretation, these independent non-Christian sources suggest something remarkable and widely noticed happened in the early 30s CE.