Saw an annular eclipse back in . . . '94? Ah, yes,
May 10, 1994. I was grateful to be working in an optics lab at the time; made it easier to get the right set of ND filters for viewing. Never had the pleasure of a total, tho.
We were totally psyched to see the launch. Given our distance from it, we didn't expect to see it at all, but there it was, looking like a roman candle from far away. A BIG
honkin' roman candle! At the time, I wondered how many UFO sightings would be reported from the launch.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by AP
Sun Sep 20, 12:29 am ET
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – NASA says it successfully launched a rocket in Virginia as part of an experiment, and the blast may have caused dozens of people to report seeing strange lights in the sky.
The space agency said it launched the Black Brant XII on Saturday evening to gather data on the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. About the time of the launch, dozens of people in the Northeast started calling local television stations to report seeing strange lights.
The calls came from as far away as Boston, which is about 380 miles northeast of the launch site.
The rocket is designed to create an artificial cloud. NASA hopes the experiment will provide information on the formation and properties of noctilucent clouds, which occur at high altitudes.
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One of the observing sites for the NL cloud was Bermuda, so it was
designed to be seen from far away. Send out the Batsignal!
