The Wise Men were, very probably, Persian "magi"--that is, mages. A mage, says dictionary.com, is a magician. That explains how they got from Persia to Bethlehem, on camels, in circa 12 days--they "skipped over" a lot of the intervening space by way of magic.
As for what they saw, why not a supernova? Or, as someone else has suggested, a conjunction of two bodies? Yes, we talk of the "Christmas star," but in those days the planets were considered stars. They were stars that moved ("...the star... went before them..."), but stars nevertheless.
The Wise Men were, very probably, Persian "magi"--that is, mages. A mage, says dictionary.com, is a magician. That explains how they got from Persia to Bethlehem, on camels, in circa 12 days--they "skipped over" a lot of the intervening space by way of magic.
As for what they saw, why not a supernova? Or, as someone else has suggested, a conjunction of two bodies? Yes, we talk of the "Christmas star," but in those days the planets were considered stars. They were stars that moved ("...the star... went before them..."), but stars nevertheless.