Northern Lights

[quavec]

Hi guys. I am reading a book called Northern Lights and it brought back a very vague memory I have when I was real little. The sky lit up a bit and was magic to me. We were living in a town called Presque Isle, Maine (one hour from New Brunswick) and my dad told me it was the Aurora Borealis. Thinking back, I doubt we saw the full deal even tho to my child eyes, it was magnificient. I wonder if any of you in Canada or in the northern states (any where actually) have seen it up close or do see it up close from time to time. I've seen pictures and they are more brilliant than what I saw as a child.

[SirOliversMom]

Darren's from Saskatchewan and he talks about them. I've never seen them myself. But I hear that they're spectaculor.

[juliette]

I've seen them a number of times - usually in airplanes. The first time was a flight from Toronto to Frankfurt - I was chatting with the pilots in the cockpit (obviously pre 9/11) and as we passed over Newfoundland, they pointed out the most amazing blue and white array of lights in the sky! I watched for several minutes out the front of our 747.

The most recent time was early this spring on the way home from London, UK on a late night flight - somewhere between Greenland and Newfoundland we were treated to a two hour display of dancing white, green and blue lights in the sky.

There really is no way to describe it..it's like watching lights perform ballet across the sky; like seeing coloured sand slip through your fingers; like watching a black light troupe perform......no, all inadequate descriptions....

[roxysmom]

Oh Juliette, have you ever read "The Langoliers(sp?) by Stephen King? It's about a plane that goes through the northern lights. It's kind of scary, but good. I am not a big Stephen King fan(too bloody,etc) but I do like that story, it is a short story in the book called "Four Past Midnight".

[Heidi's Pam]

and we had the most awesome display last Sunday night. I live in suburbia, so don't really get to see them well, but when I took Heidi for her walk last Sunday night at 7 they were quite bright. They were still going strong at 11 p.m. when I took her out for her last pee. It reminded me of watching a woman in a full dress made of taffeta swirling and dancing and had shades of blue, green and pinky-red. They also seemed to take up the entire sky, and were so active that you could imagine you could almost hear them moving. . I was really tempted to pack Heidi up, jump in the car and drive out of the city to watch them better but was too sleepy.. :sleep004:
I also have a friend whose husband is a flight engineer in the military and he told me that they actually saw St. Elmo's fire in the cockpit once - it's like a giant ball of flames that follows the aircraft - not sure what causes it.

[schroeders mom]

I used to live in Fairbanks Alaska and the Northern Lights would come out on cold clear nights and are just beautiful!! And November is the month to see them. We would run out in our socks and stand on the drive way and look up at the sky, never mind we're freezing, but the light show was fantastic!

[soph & li mom]

I saw the Northern Lights when I was 10 (1976). Let me tell you the story....

We were visiting my relatives in Grey/Raymond Maine. This was my first ever trip there. My aunt had a huskey that slept under the window of the room I was staying in. She woke me up howling. I looked out and saw streaming rays of light that went all the way to the ground. Different sizes and colors. Well..as said..I was 10 and from Texas. I had NO clue what these were. I feared that some spaceship was coming and if they knew I was awake they would take me. I was so scared. :afraid: :afraid: I just lay there trying not to make a peep or a move. Eventually, I fell back asleep. I woke the next morning with all my arms, legs, toes and feeling pretty normal. I decided I could not tell anyone what I saw or felt for fear they would think I was nuts or something, so I kept it to myself. :confused: :confused: A few nights later on the news they did a story about the Northern Lights and said it would be an excellent night for viewing. We all went out to a field to watch. We saw occasional wisps of light very high in the sky but nothing like what I had seen a couple nights before. I realized then that I had seen a rather amazing show of the lights and not a spaceship. I never told my family for fear that they would now think I was stupid. :anon: :anon: I do regret not knowing at the time what I was experiencing because I think it might be rare for them to be that vivid....

[Heidi's Pam]

you must have been absolutely terrified going through that so young, and not knowing what was happening. It almost reminded me of the scenes from those alien movies like E.T. Glad to hear that it didn't leave any emotional scars, and at least you found out shortly afterwards what you had seen!

[soph & li mom]

you must have been absolutely terrified going through that so young, and not knowing what was happening. It almost reminded me of the scenes from those alien movies like E.T. Glad to hear that it didn't leave any emotional scars, and at least you found out shortly afterwards what you had seen!


Well...I was scared...but I think it helped that I was arguing with myself about if UFO's even existed. I really think it is sort of funny now. I had such a healthy imagination... :circle: :circle: