Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to she'll probably laugh her a** off

How many people really look up?
Socrates II — (archived)

While this may not apply to the Texas UFO case, I know for a fact that many
people not only do not know much when it comes to astronomy and meteorology,
but even looking up at the sky is not something they make a habit of.

I often attend the open house at a local observatory, located in a college town.
I am amazed at how many otherwise educated people who go there know zip
about the heavens, and I mean virtually nothing. And they don't have any
problem admitting it, either. And this happens at every open house I have
attended for years now.

I recall the time I was with a group during the daytime and a pair
of sundogs were in the sky. No one in my group, all educated
adults, had ever seen the phenomenon before and did not even
know it existed.

And I still shaek my head at the person who told me the saw
a ring around the Moon one night and were actually afraid that
it was a portent of some kind.

And then there were the women I met who did not know the
Sun rose in the east, or that there were craters on the Moon,
or what stars actually were.

I think you get my point.

So maybe the folks in Texas know a bit more about the sky than average,
maybe they don't.

Look at this cloud formation in today's Astronomy Picture of
the Day. Don't tell me a few people who saw this didn't wonder
if it was artificial:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080122.html

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