# Witnessing an event that very few got to see **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004 "2024-07-10T15:30:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/21 "2024-07-15T15:37:59Z")
I watch a bicyclist ride his bike into the back of my pickup. I had just passed him a few blocks back and pulled up in front of my house. I got out of my truck and saw him riding towards me, he was looking down, not forward. I thought he was going to swerve but he didn’t. Other than a bruised ego he was okay, his bike was a mess. Didn’t hurt my truck at all (an old 69 Dodge D250). ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/22 "2024-07-15T17:05:07Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I watch a bicyclist ride his bike into the back of my pickup. In my case, the big road bike absolutely collapsed like it was made of aluminum foil, and the guy died. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/23 "2024-07-15T17:48:10Z")
I’ve worked a ton of events & festivals; you know that “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” line? I’ve built/assembled/inflated the curtains & have been behind, over, under & even inside of them at various times, including in ceilings & on roofs any number of times, most recently 2½ weeks ago. I’ve taken photos from the top of extended bucket/ladder fire trucks 95’ or 100+’ in the air multiple times & in multiple states. Some were preplanned group photos, some were at things like fire prevention week expos. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/24 "2024-07-16T01:58:43Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I experienced the most powerful earthquake to ever strike North America. I suffered through Chile’s second most powerful earthquake … (the 8.8 in 2010) 3 weeks after moving into our new house … a few wiki goodies: - the earthquake shifted Santiago 28 cm (11 in) to the west-southwest and moved Concepción at least 3 metres (10 ft) to the west. - Several cities south of Cobquecura were also raised by up to 3 meters. - The maximum recorded [peak ground acceleration] was at Concepcion, with a value of 0.65 _g_ (so a 100kg person would experience a 65kg side force on them) - the earthquake was so powerful that it may have shortened the length of the day by 1.26 [microseconds] and moved the Earth’s figure axis by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 cm) - **The earthquake also caused [seiches] to occur in [Lake Pontchartrain] to the north of [New Orleans], United States, located nearly 7,500 kilometres (4,700 mi) from the epicenter of the quake.** ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/25 "2024-07-16T02:42:01Z")
I was a member of the press at the first launch of the Space Shuttle. I’ve seen two total eclipses. I saw _Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark_ on Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/26 "2024-07-16T03:49:29Z")
Was it “This Is Chance”, about a woman reporter who kept Anchorage residents updated on what was going on? That was a great book, and about a lot more than the earthquake. I was a newborn, so I obviously don’t remember it, and TBH my parents, who have always stayed up to date on current events, didn’t either. It also sounds like that baby elephant had phantom trunk disorder, the way some human amputees have phantom limb disorder. I didn’t tape this, but I should have, and have never been able to find this online. In the mid 00s, IIRC Florida was going to pass legislation requiring that women who wanted to place their babies for adoption take out personal ads, at their own expense, to look for the fathers if they weren’t nearby. CNN had a live panel discussion with (are you ready for this?) Dr. Drew Pinsky, the then-president of NOW, and Rev. Jerry Falwell! What’s remarkable about this is that all of them agreed that this was a bad idea, and for the same reasons. Rev. Falwell also said that his ministry ran some shelters for homeless pregnant women, and the number 1,200 was in there somewhere (IIRC the average number of women who used their services in a calendar year) and they had never had a father show up to claim any kind of rights to his child. Really, this did happen! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/27 "2024-07-16T04:08:54Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Really, this did happen! This is the case in many states. Not unusual at all. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/28 "2024-07-16T12:10:48Z")
My new word of the day — thanks! > **[Seiche](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiche)** > > A seiche (/seɪʃ/ SAYSH) is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs, swimming pools, bays, harbors, caves, and seas. The key requirement for formation of a seiche is that the body of water be at least partially bounded, allowing the formation of the standing wave. > The term was promoted by the Swiss hydrologist François-Alphonse Forel in 1890, who was the first to make scientific observations o... ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/29 "2024-07-16T12:13:42Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I’ve seen two total eclipses. > I saw _Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark_ on Broadway. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/30 "2024-07-16T12:17:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Was it “This Is Chance”, about a woman reporter who kept Anchorage residents updated on what was going on? That was Jeannie Chance, a local reporter. She also caused a panic when she falsely reported that a tidal wave was going to hit Cook Inlet and that everyone in my neighborhood should evacuate. It turned out to be nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/31 "2024-07-16T12:43:35Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > This is the case in many states. Not unusual at all. NOW and Jerry Falwell agreeing on something is the case in many states? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/32 "2024-07-16T20:28:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Was it “This Is Chance”, about a woman reporter who kept Anchorage residents updated on what was going on? That was a great book, and about a lot more than the earthquake. I wouldn’t have remember the title, but, yes, I remember it was about that woman reporter (and much more). Really great book, because it captured the scene so well. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/33 "2024-07-16T22:10:55Z")
I have read that an earthquake in Alaska triggered a landslide that then tipped off a “tsunami” that was something like 1,700 feet high - and witnesses survived! This sounds more like a seiche than a tsunami. After the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami, one of my co-workers wondered if the Mississippi River, along which our city was located, could turn into a tsunami. We didn’t think so, but I’m guessing it could form a seiche, and it’s known that the 1812 New Madrid quake rerouted parts of the Mississippi. > **[1958 Lituya Bay earthquake and megatsunami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Lituya_Bay_earthquake_and_megatsunami)** > > The 1958 Lituya Bay earthquake occurred on .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}July 9, 1958 at 22:15:58 PST with a moment magnitude of 7.8 to 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The strike-slip earthquake took place on the Fairweather Fault and triggered a rockslide of 30 million cubic meters (40 million cubic yards) and about 90 million tons into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. The impact was heard 80 kilometers (50 mi) away, and Lit... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004/34 "2024-07-16T22:11:56Z")
I think it was the requirement that women name the father, if he’s known, in order to get welfare benefits, or even place a baby for adoption. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witnessing-an-event-that-very-few-got-to-see/1004004.md?page=1)