I’ve witnessed ball lightning twice in my life. None of the crazy UFO style stuff, both cases the lightning was arching between clouds and just sort of balled up and hovered there for a few seconds before fizzling out.
A little more repeatable, I once stopped in the middle of nowhere in west Oregon at 2am. We pulled over on some rural road, turned off all the lights and just looked at the sky. It was the first time I’d ever been somewhere I couldn’t at least see light pollution on the horizon. I grew up in a rural area, I’d always shown off the stars you could see out there, but the awe I felt in that perfect darkness seeing more stars than I’d ever managed before has actually soured my love of the sky. The sky at home looked so dull after that. I live in the city now and rarely see any stars, somehow I don’t mind.
Thank you for reminding me that I love living in Western Oregon. It’s fucking beautiful here.
I spent 2 weeks on the northern shore of Koh Tao in Thailand, around 20 years ago.
It was as close to an island paradise as I could imagine.
There were a few bungalows and a bar under palm trees, directly at a perfectly white sandy beach, surrounded by rainforest.
The sea was clear azure, with a reef you could snorkel in.
It’s impossible to describe the beauty and serenity of the place.
We were the only guests. The next houses one bay over didn’t have electricity yet.
One night we didn’t finish our hike in time and almost got stuck in the forest in the evening, because it got so dark you literally couldn’t see the ground anymore.
To get there you had to take three boat rides, then ride over unpaved roads on the back of a pickup truck for one hour.Just checked the place out on Google Maps. It’s now entirely built up with hotels.
Hands down, the Northern Lights are just crazy magic. I saw a particularly active night in Lapland, even the Finns said it was a good night. Full cinema-style wavy green bands in the sky. Undulating like snakes. Fast. So fucking fast. In terms of natural phenomena that should be mistaken for gods, this is the peak.
27/10, would see again all the time.
That’s crazy I hope I can see them in my lifetime. I thought they moved slowly over hours !
Total solar eclipse. I’ve seen a few. There is something so strange about the omnipresent sun you have lived with your whole life suddenly be gone and there is a black space that you can look at with your eyes where the sky used to be and everything is dark like the night. On a human level I’d image it’s the closest thing I’ll get to seeing the Earth from space. Once you see it you will absolutely understand why older civilizations wouldn’t shut up about it. We understand almost everything about when it will happen and what it is but the experience you can never understand. If you live less than 6-8 hours away from a place you can see a total eclipse do it. An eclipse with glasses is OK but it is a million times more impactful looking at total blackness where the sun once was with your own eyes.
Hmmm, it’s certainly a million times more impactful on your retinas. Don’t do this, never do this. Under no circumstances
Hmm, I looked it up because it seemed absurd and apparently when the eclipse is total, it’s fine ?
Clarifications : https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety2.htmltldr : It’s safe only during the span of time where the solar disk is entirely covered
Anyway to reply to your comment proper, I’ve seen one as a kid but it’s too ancient to remember clearly. It was also right before I had my childhood fascination with the solar system so might not have fully appreciated it.
Ive seen two in the last decade. It’s surprisingly easy to know when it’s totality, and when it ends. Not only are there apps that do countdowns, but your eyes make it very clear if they’re disturbed by light or not.
Totality is incredible. A sight truly indescribable. A different color of white unimaginable, in a ring in the sky, animated like fire. I actually opened this comment section to come post this.
Yes. Lol. Total eclipse. Obviously never ever look at the eclipse until the sun is completely covered “totality”. And even then have an alarm handy beforehand so you know when it will move out of the total eclipse phase.
My work has taken me to over 50 other countries and I’ve seen many amazing sights but I have to say the Grand Canyon in the US is the first thing that comes to mind.
The other was a very specific time and place; I was sailing an 18th century tall ship far off shore in the dead of night, no lights or engine noise. You could see so many stars along with the most intense meteor shower I’ve ever seen. Streaks in the sky every couple seconds, some so bright they lit the sky like a flash of lightning and left a green streak behind. The water was full of bioluminescence and we were being accompanied by dolphins playing in our bow wake that were also leaving trails of light in the water.
milky see effect. i don’t even know if it’s rare, but i’ve only seen it once and it was beautiful.
also the milky way with next to no light pollution. you can’t see this in civilized areas, but our sky is shining brighter then i ever imagined and it is full of stars.
The Alps are pretty freacking impressive. You see these enormous pointy rocks in the background and your brain knows how massive these mountains are. They are incredible.
