The Eclipse Conspiracy

During a partial eclipse in Southern California circa 1991, the only things noticeable were that the sunlight seemed only slightly dimmer (something what would have gone right past us if we weren't expecting it), but we definitely felt the drop in temperature.The company I was working at the time made computer-controlled greenhouse control systems, part of which is a weather station. The computer also compiled sensor data from the weather station and the zones in the greenhouse. We immediately printed out the weather station data for the eclipse and were surprised at the very definite drops in the readings, especially the size of the drop in light. I saved that printout for posterity, but have long since lost track of it.

That was my only total eclipse: Solar eclipse of February 26, 1979.My friend at the University of North Dakota (UND -- we were both stationed at Grand Forks AFB and both working on our BS Computer Science at the time) was an amateur astro-photographer whose prize photos were ones that captured meteors. When I bumped into him at school that day, he told me to come with him. He had loaded his telescope and camera into his car and we sped north towards Winnipeg with me riding shotgun using welder's glass to track the moon's progress across the sun's disk. When I called that it was time, he pulled over to the side of the rode and set up his equipment.My main memory is of seeing the approaching shadow and the near complete silence during totality.He gave me a print of one of his photos, which I still have. Right now I'm writing that information down to include with it for my son and my grandsons.