When I was about sixteen
I had walked to town to go to a movie one night. This was in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, a fairly wild and desolate place, and we lived about three miles out of town. I walked along the road with no street lights and no moon, only starlight to guide me, and the trees blocked most of that. So my pupils were as wide as they can possibly get at that point.

As I walked past one somewhat open area, there was a flash of light above me. I looked up and saw a brilliant blue-green streak across the sky, and it stayed there for a good three seconds. It was a meteor that had left a long trail glowing in its wake. (Probably had a lot of copper in it- isn't that the stuff that glows green when you heat it like that?)

I walked along, marveling at what I had just seen, and gradually noticed a flickering light overhead. It was faint enough that I couldn't be certain that it was there at first, but when I got to another clear area I saw faint ripples of white light going across the sky. When I got home I went down to the lake and sat on the dock and looked up.

Imagine, if you will, a vast sheet of translucent plastic faintly glowing with white light being thrown over the heavens and rippling as though in a strong breeze. It seemed to come from one area of the sky, radiating outward, and flow into another area. And off to the north it looked just like the moon was rising.

It was one of the most impressive natural phenomena I've ever witnessed, and it made a hell of an impact on me.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Sat 12 Mar 2005, 9:35, Reply)