# Ever seen the green flash? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866 "2007-05-29T04:10:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/1 "2007-05-29T04:10:35Z")
A major plot point in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie hinges on the characters seeing a green flash. I myself have seen it-in my mom’s high-rise condo looking out to the west at the setting sun in a very clear sky (over land, tho the condo is on the ocean which is to the east). I stared intently at the point where the sun was going down, and there she was; pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/2 "2007-05-29T04:21:35Z")
Yup. I’ve watched many ocean sunsets. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/3 "2007-05-29T04:25:51Z")
While I haven’t watched Pirates of the Carribean, I have watched many beautiful ocean sunsets and have seen the green flash. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/4 "2007-05-29T04:44:23Z")
Wait, so that’s not just something you tell kids, along the lines of, “Do that long enough and your face will freeze that way”? Is this a woosh? There really is a flash, or splash? I’ve been told that, but always scoffed at it. “You’re not going to fool _me_, haha!” ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/5 "2007-05-29T04:56:05Z")
Here’s a nice website that has pictures of ‘the green flash’. > **[Pictures of Green Flashes](https://aty.sdsu.edu/pictures.html)** > > Pictures of Green Flashes ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/6 "2007-05-29T04:57:49Z")
Yes - here’s a picture of one type : [http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap021110.html](http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap021110.html) Follow the links there for more info. There are actually a few different types of green flash; I’ve seen at least two. Apparently the sunrise green flash is also visible, but I’ve never been in a position to see it. I imagine those who have are a small group. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/7 "2007-05-29T05:06:21Z")
Sorry to say, I never have but I’ve heard about it since I was a kid (especially with astronomy as a hobby). I have seen a _lot_ of sunsets hoping to see the “Green Flash” but no. Well, sunsets still look spectacular with or without the Green Flash. My brother has seen it many times when he was in the Navy. From what I’ve heard, the primary factor in seeing it is a flat, unobstructed terrain. And the ocean seems to fill this requirement quite nicely. (Incidentally, my brother has seen the sunrise Green Flash too. When you stand watch in the Navy, sometimes you are on duty before most people wake up). ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/8 "2007-05-29T05:32:43Z")
I thought the Green Flash was only visible on the West Coast. Then again, I’ve only ever heard people talk about it here. I’ve always meant to hang out on the beach at the right time and try to see it. There’s a coffee shop at Pacific Beach (I think–or maybe it’s in La Jolla) called the Green Flash, which IIRC has this as its main selling point. > [@wolf\_meister](#): > > When you stand watch in the Navy, sometimes you are on duty before most people wake up Heh. This is a bit of an understatement. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/9 "2007-05-29T06:49:49Z")
Once, for sure. Once, probably. Both from the deck of the S.S. John Sherwin on Lake Michigan. (Not sure why I never saw it on Lake Superior. Lakes Huron and Erie are generally too hazy. My second summer on the lakes it was foggy about 99% of the time.) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/10 "2007-05-29T07:10:49Z")
**fetus** Yes maybe standing watch in the Navy has miserable hours … but sometimes, you get to see the Green Flash. **tomndebb** Interesting that someone else has seen it on board a ship. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/11 "2007-05-29T07:13:46Z")
Very common in Hawaii 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/12 "2007-05-29T09:35:07Z")
I saw it for the first time last year. We were living on the Gulf coast. The funny thing is that I had forgotten all about this phenomenon, and suddenly, there it was. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/13 "2007-05-29T12:28:51Z")
Nope – and I really would love to. We used to give a lecture about it and a homework problem to our optics students. When one of my former bosses was on an expoedition to Antarctica, he saw many green flashes at sea. He said you got used to “feeling” good weather for them. I understand it’s a big thing to sit out at Key West at sunset and watch for them. The phenomenon was also used in the John MacDonald book (and the Ed Harris movie based on it) **The Flash of Green** [A Flash of Green (1984) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087267/) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/14 "2007-05-29T12:36:04Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I thought the Green Flash was only visible on the West Coast. Then again, I’ve only ever heard people talk about it here. [/QUOTE] I used to see it on the west coast of Florida often when I lived there back in the late '70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/15 "2007-05-29T13:28:18Z")
As a kid we went to the west coast of Florida most years. My dad - a bit of a joker - used to talk about the GF, but I don’t recall ever seeing it. pretty much thought it was just a story. After my parents died about 10 years ago, my wife and I took our family to the Gulf for vacation. Watching a sunset we were joking about how my dad used to talk about the GF - and then we both saw it. Really cool! ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/16 "2007-05-29T13:57:29Z")
I might be one of the lucky ones to have seen the green flash on both US coasts. I grew up on the east coast and saw it with the sunrise about 4-5 times. And, while visiting the west coast, I was able to see it with the sunset only once. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/17 "2007-05-29T14:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] I thought the Green Flash was only visible on the West Coast. [/QUOTE] In brightest day, in blackest night… ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/18 "2007-05-29T15:08:35Z")
I didn’t even know (until now) that it was real! :eek: It’s part of the plot of a Victoria Holt Novel - [The Pride of the Peacock](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/victoria-holt/pride-of-peacock.htm). I LOVE Victoria Holt Novels… ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/19 "2007-05-29T15:43:11Z")
Never heard of it until now. Never seen it until I followed the links. I guess that’s what happens when you are born and raised in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866/20 "2007-05-29T15:54:30Z")
The late John D. MacDonald included it in several of his Travis McGee novels. McGee lived on a houseboat in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-seen-the-green-flash/405866.md?page=2)