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To: SMGFan

Saw one total eclipse in my life

Ft Bragg 1970,eating lunch out on a field execrcise

Pretty amazing experience

Too bad there weren`t any chickens around,would have

liked to have seen if they would go to roost(that was

the joke at the time)


2 posted on 05/20/2012 7:13:28 AM PDT by Harold Shea (RVN `70 - `71)
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To: Harold Shea

A little further north, the birds DID get confused! I saw better than 90% totality of that same eclipse. It was memorable to say the least!


4 posted on 05/20/2012 7:25:15 AM PDT by PrairieLady2
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To: Harold Shea

I was on Cape Cod for the 1970 eclipse- I’ve remembered it always- it was an eerie day. The color/tone/quality of light was indescribable. We went to the beach with our high-school science teacher - he too was speechless! There were moments when we all secretly wondered if the sky would return to normal..or even if it could. Powerful.


5 posted on 05/20/2012 7:31:43 AM PDT by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
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To: Harold Shea

I flew my LearJet up to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun


6 posted on 05/20/2012 7:42:40 AM PDT by babble-on
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To: Harold Shea

I remember that eclipse. I was a senior in high school. My family and I went outside to watch. It was very eerie, got dark quickly, all the birds went from loud chattering to silence to chattering after the eclipse. I remember we were all warned not to look directly at the sun for fear of eye damage. My father said the hell with it, he would never have another chance so he turned and looked at it. He said it was very impressive and a little scary.


12 posted on 05/20/2012 8:28:41 AM PDT by ops33 (Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired))
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To: Harold Shea

I saw the same one from the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia when I was in high school. My dad drove the family from the DC area for the day, seeing that it was in the line of longest totality (we got 3-4 minutes).

It was probably the most surreal experience of my life. I had set up my backyard telescope to project the image onto cardboard, which worked perfectly. As it started getting darker, every gap in the leaves of a nearby tree started acting as a pinhole projector, throwing thousands of little crescent images on the ground. Right before totality, the “shadow bands” appeared, looking like ripples of water running across the ground. And then it was as dark as night, except for what seemed like daybreak at the horizon, in every direction you looked. The dogs on a nearby farm started howling, and finally we looked up and saw the sun’s corona surrounding the dark moon. After some minutes, Bailey’s beads appeared and the whole process started to reverse itself. I’d drive a thousand miles to see that again.

Should get a good view of this tonight, if it’s clear. We’re a little off-center to see the complete annular ring here in Colorado, but I can’t wait anyway.


13 posted on 05/20/2012 8:57:04 AM PDT by niteowl (Wisdom comes in two parts: 1) Having a lot to say, and 2) not saying it.)
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