Actually, my mother was about 13 years old when she saw it and still remembers it.
Her mother woke her and her brothers and sisters up to see it. All the neighbors were out in awe and fright because it was very red and apparently very frightening. No one had ever rememered seeing anything like it.
This was in Czechoslovakia as itr was known then.
Still hard for me to think that it would be terrifying. Maybe odd, intruging, interesting, but not terrifying.
A 13 year old might be scared and that fear would probably color her recollections. But my gut says that that detail is more than just a bit of hype.