# Rare Experiences **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939 "2008-10-14T19:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Redfrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@Redfrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redfrost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/1 "2008-10-14T19:56:50Z")
Just last night I stepped outside for a smoke and turned my eye skyward. There was a huge ring around the full moon. Although very pretty, not particulary rare. However, I was able to see a moonbow on the bottom part of that circle. I’ve never seen one before. I thought that was just wicked cool. It looked like a dim, dark, inverted version of a rainbow. A few weeks ago I was, again, outside enjoying a smoke. I look up and see a shooting start moving west to east. The really cool part was when I heard it!. I heard a falling start! I don’t know anyone that has ever heard one. It sounded like an igniting matchhead, a kind of sizzling, popping sound. Anyone else have any rare experiences they would like to share? Aside from drug induced hallucinations that is 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/2 "2008-10-14T20:05:38Z")
I had a crew working in Soldotna, Alaska and we were standing outside near dusk one evening enjoying a brew and conversation. I looked up and saw that some business in the town was operating one of those massive lights that swing a beam across the sky. Only a couple of minutes later that beam had become a curtain and I realized it wasn’t manmade but, instead, the Aurora Borealis. Some folks claim on exceptionally clear, windless nights you can hear the Aurora crackling as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/3 "2008-10-14T21:25:15Z")
**Redfrost** , unless that meteor passed right by you or you heard it after a long delay, that sound may have been (literally) in your head. I’ve heard of experiences like yours. A lot of authorities have called ‘bullshit’ on these kind of claims, but some scientists have speculated that some wavelength of EM radiation emitted by meteors as they burn up effects the inner ear in a way that is perceived as sound. Since this radiation reaches you at the speed of light you hear it at the same time that you see it, even though it might not pass within miles of your position. Sorry, I don’t have a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Redfrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@Redfrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redfrost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/4 "2008-10-14T21:44:22Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > **Redfrost** , unless that meteor passed right by you or you heard it after a long delay, that sound may have been (literally) in your head. I’ve heard of experiences like yours. A lot of authorities have called ‘bullshit’ on these kind of claims, but some scientists have speculated that some wavelength of EM radiation emitted by meteors as they burn up effects the inner ear in a way that is perceived as sound. Since this radiation reaches you at the speed of light you hear it at the same time that you see it, even though it might not pass within miles of your position. > > Sorry, I don’t have a cite. It wasn’t loud and it was very brief. It sounded very far off and faint, like somebody lit a match several feet from me. I live outside of a small town in a wooded area and it was a very quiet night. I’m not trying to discount your information, just providing a little more detail. Whether I actually heard the meteor or “heard” radiation, I still “heard” a meteor, which is pretty freakin cool if you ask me. _On a side note:_ _Heard, after writing it so many times(sorry), and saying it in my head, seems like a weird word. Like it shouldn’t be a word. Hear **ed** at this point almost seems like a better word._ ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/5 "2008-10-14T21:51:44Z")
In early November 2004, I was driving through southeastern Wisconsin at the ungodly hour of 1:00 AM. From the driver’s seat I could see that the sky was bright with moonlight - not uncommon in the sparsely populated area where I was driving. After I’d been driving about an hour, it occurred to me that while the moon should have changed position in the sky by now, the light source seemed not to have moved relative to me and the car. I pulled over, got out, and looked up to see the sky full of white light from a zenithal auroral display like [this one](http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2004/07nov04d/Lakomiak1.jpg). I’d never seen the aurora before, and I’ve only seen it (maybe) once since. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/6 "2008-10-14T21:53:03Z")
I saw a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere once, too. It looked like a glowing red ember from a chimney that just sailed across a few degrees of sky, then burnt out. I didn’t hear anything from it, though. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/7 "2008-10-14T22:12:58Z")
I once saw the green flash at sunset from the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/8 "2008-10-14T22:21:57Z")
One hazy night I saw a complete, double moonbow. That is, there was a double ring around the moon with dim rainbow separation in both rings. I had to call my son out to witness it. It was completely cool. That was in Sacramento, from the front balcony of an apartment. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/9 "2008-10-14T22:43:37Z")
Once, maybe when I was around 12-13 years old and flying to Europe for a family holiday, our plane flew right over a thunderstorm. Watching lightning from above has got to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced (and probably the only time I’ve ever had reason to be grateful I can’t sleep worth a damn when flying). ---
**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:** [October 15, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/10 "2008-10-15T00:43:35Z")
> [@chacoguy420](#): > > I once saw the green flash at sunset from the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Me too, from my mom’s Florida condo (you beat me on location, IOW). Ruby red sun pillar one evening before a night class. Darkest night sky I’ve ever seen, Glacier National Park one summer. Zillions of them-was able to see sky objects with my 3.5" scope that I could never see in Florida’s humid skies. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/11 "2008-10-15T01:05:29Z")
Not odd for those who live in the Middle East, I’m sure, but when I was in Kuwait, I was driving in the middle of barren desert…you literally could not see ANY man mad objects, save for the road we were on, 360 degrees in any direction…and far off in the distance, perhaps a mile or two away, a large train of wild camels was walking across the horizon. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/12 "2008-10-15T01:13:19Z")
I was hiking at Torrey Pines State Preserve and came across a strange set of tracks in the sand. I was used to seeing prints of the small mammals and reptiles in the area, but this was something different. I followed them for 20 yards or so and came upon a [Tarantula Hawk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk) dragging a paralyzed spider. It was like a scene from “The Living Desert”, a movie I had seen in grade school more than 40 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/13 "2008-10-15T01:20:12Z")
I once watched sea beams glitter in the dark near the terhausen—(oh, c’mon you knew it was coming) Number one for me was diving in Caye Caulker, Belize and having the sun blocked out by a couple of curious manatees that were playing in my bubble stream. You’re not supposed to pursue them or get near them, but I was where I was supposed to be and they weren’t. I almost couldn’t get away from them. They followed me around very closely for about ten minutes or so. Truly incredible animals - you really do feel like intruding on an alien world when you’re in the water with them. Plus, they were delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/14 "2008-10-15T01:23:26Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > **Redfrost** , unless that meteor passed right by you or you heard it after a long delay, that sound may have been (literally) in your head. I’ve heard of experiences like yours. A lot of authorities have called ‘bullshit’ on these kind of claims, but some scientists have speculated that some wavelength of EM radiation emitted by meteors as they burn up effects the inner ear in a way that is perceived as sound. Since this radiation reaches you at the speed of light you hear it at the same time that you see it, even though it might not pass within miles of your position. That’s interesting because I could swear that I’ve heard a meteor. It was a huge arc that lit up the sky with a tail that stretched halfway across the visible sky. If it were big enough wouldn’t it cause a sonic boom? I could be misremembering though. I was noticing a bizarre inexplicable red light on the horizon one night. The next day the newspaper said that it was an aurora and we are at 34.4°N latitude. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/15 "2008-10-15T02:19:40Z")
OK, **Rich Mann** , I see that you mentioned that there would be a delay. Here’s a mention of a [meteor sonic boom](http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/08/new.zeland.meteor/), so I suspect that I actually heard a meteor. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/16 "2008-10-15T05:48:50Z")
I heard the Space Shuttle sonic boom and subsequent break-up as it went over. I told my wife, “There will be something in the news tommorow” (she was asleep), but I figured it would be a local “idiot blows self up in quarry” story. I was right, and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/17 "2008-10-15T06:40:00Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I once watched sea beams glitter in the dark near the terhausen—(oh, c’mon you knew it was coming) I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. – Baty I’ve seen and heard meteors, moonbows, triple rainbow, green flashes, cloud shadows, sundogs and lightening of every imaginable color. I didn’t see the Aurora when in Fairbanks. Sigh. Oh, here are pictures of some common atmospheric effects: [Atmosphere - Digital Images of the Sky](http://www.allthesky.com/atmosphere/atmosphere.html) ---
**Author:** ![accidentalyuppie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@accidentalyuppie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/accidentalyuppie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/18 "2008-10-15T13:54:38Z")
A gorgeous full rainbow over the water on a sunny day at the beach. Turned out the rainbow was only visible through my sunglasses and probably a result of the polarization but it was cool anyway. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/19 "2008-10-15T13:59:34Z")
I would think the test for whether or not you were really hearing the meteor would be if the sound and the visual were synchronized. Like in poorly-done movie effects when the explosion in the distance and the sound from the explosion happen at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939/20 "2008-10-15T14:48:10Z")
Hm, never heard of a [moonbow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbow) before, so I checked wiki. They claim that a ring around the moon is actually called a [moondog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_dog) or 22 degree halo. Just thought I’d share. My coolest thing might have been lying on a roof and watching what I think was [the Perseides](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids) meteor shower. Or maybe realizing that satellites can be seen with the naked eye if you’re somewhere that there’s not much light pollution. Ooo, or the time I was surfing at night and realized that there were little organisms of some sort that flashed neon green when pushed by a current. So my hand thrusting through the water created clouds of green light, or small green flashes in the crest of waves. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rare-experiences/467939.md?page=2)