I’m not sure anyone noticed, but there was an eclipse yesterday.
On August 21, 2017, the moon covered the sun in a total solar eclipse, blocking it completely (to those in its path) for about two minutes and 40 seconds.
According to NASA, “everyone in North America plus parts of South America, Africa, and Europe [saw] at least a partial solar eclipse, while the thin path of totality [passed] through portions of 14 states.”
It was pretty exciting, though I wasn’t directly in the path of totality, myself. I did get to watch the Weather Channel have a collective emotional breakdown, which was interesting. Even astronauts aboard the International Space Station were able to see the effects of the eclipse.
Namely, the moon’s shadow cast over the United States:
Astronauts aboard the @Space_Station captured this amazing image of the Moon's shadow over the U.S. during #SolarEclipse2017. pic.twitter.com/YrhTwpF1OC
— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) August 21, 2017
But you know what was really interesting? All the weird stories about what might have happened yesterday. I’m talking Bigfoot encounters, ghost sightings, aliens, lizard people climbing out of the ground. Or, you know, whatever it is lizard people do.
As far as I know, none of that happened, but…
The Midnight Noon Hour
It became something of a running joke, leading up to the eclipse, for people to make as many maps as possible correlating its path with random oddities.
This one charted the eclipse’s path with reported Bigfoot sightings:
"There are no more eclipse maps to make"
Challenge accepted. pic.twitter.com/PnFJSXeSiY
— Joshua Stevens (@jscarto) August 3, 2017
Meanwhile, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division created a historical map of Lizardman sightings, stating, “SCEMD does not know if Lizardmen become more active during a solar eclipse, but we advise that residents of Lee and Sumter counties should remain ever vigilant.”
Regarding possible paranormal activity potentially occurring during the #SolarEclipse2017. As always, if you see something, say something. pic.twitter.com/O3IuYhHzqB
— SC Emergency Management Division (@SCEMD) August 9, 2017
Good advice, as always.
More than a few places ran stories about a potential increase in “spiritual energies,” and how the months before and after the eclipse could experience amplified activity.
Then we had The New Yorker, which highlighted a couple small towns in Kentucky – Kelly and Hopkinsville. They were celebrating the anniversary of an old UFO incident, during a festival called Kelly’s Little Green Men Days.
In fact, that incident (dubbed the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter) occurred exactly 62 years ago yesterday, on August 21, 1955. The fact that its anniversary coincided with a total solar eclipse was not lost on the locals.
Unfortunately, we can’t yet discern whether or not there really was an increase in paranormal activity during the eclipse. We’ll have to wait for any reports to filter in to the usual websites, and so on. Who knows?
Me, personally, I was hoping for superpowers. Flight, time travel, whatever it was Sylar could do (understand how things work by removing brains?). Point is, we all know that solar eclipses can sometimes unlock our innate special abilities. But yesterday? No dice.
Maybe next time.
