Unforgettable

[Karearea]

For me, so far, and omitting family milestones and sentimental occasions:

Looking for and finding Halley's Comet, naked-eye visible, low to the eastern horizon on March 5 1986

Seeing an intense red aurora in April 1990, and hearing the 'rustling silk' sound that accompanied it

Feeling efficient at having cleared six inches of snow from the rabbit-hutch in the evening, and discovering a further eighteen inches of snow had fallen by next morning, August 1992

Detecting the smell of sulphur on the northerly wind when Mt Ruapehu, hundreds of miles away in the North Island, was erupting in 1996

Glimpsing Concorde departing from Christchurch Airport, very low against a yellow sunset sky

Looking for and spotting space station Mir on almost its last decaying orbit

Hearing the NASA SOFIA 747 flying overhead

Seeing a red rainbow early one morning

Seeing nasty-looking shredded black scud cloud passing by a few hundred yards away - but thankfully not the tornado that developed

The fantail that flew around me at a group of graves at Dunedin's Northern Cemetery as I was trying to locate my great-grandfather's grave, and came so close as I was about to leave that I heard the taxi-driver's intake of breath as he thought the bird was about to enter the car.

The lavender-coloured sunsets and pre-sunrise glows subsequent to the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in January 2022

Others?

[PHXPhlyer]

Seeing a Space Shuttle atop its NASA 747 carrier cross our path on its way from Edwards Air Force Base to the Kennedy Space Center.

Walking home from work at 2AM with air temperature of -32^o F with dead still air.

Sitting in a natural hot spring in a mountain stream in the dead of night with 2 feet of snow on the ground and no trace of manmade light.

Enduring a moderate earthquake and watching my large aquarium sway on its stand with the water sloshing around.

Watching a display of the Aurora Borealis with green rays rotating across the sky like spokes of a wagon wheel.

Seeing what turned out to be a secret submarine launched ballistic missile of the California coast and hearing the attendant chaos on the air traffic control frequency as no one knew what it was and the controllers had no advance notice due to the top secret nature of the launch.

Kayaking the Colorado River the entire length of the Grand Canyon on a once in a lifetime trip only to get to do it three more times.

Attending the 50th Anniversary celebration of the formation of the United States Air Force and seeing a fly-by of every aircraft on active service including SR 71, U2, Korean War aircraft, plus most every aircraft the Army Air Corp flew in WW II and replica aircraft from WW I.
Performances by the national demonstration teams of The United States Air Force, Great Britain, Canada, France , Brazil, Japan, and Italy.

Having the ISS tracker app notification of a pass and going outside to locate it, raise a toast, and wave to the astronauts and cosmonauts onboard.

PP

[llondel]

Multiple Concorde sightings, from being a child watching it arrive at Fairford, sat at Wimbledon one year and seeing it make its turn back to Heathrow, watching the news at my parents' house when it was announced that one was about to land at Filton so we all rushed out to watch it fly past.

Seeing the Space Shuttle on the pad for its last ever launch.

Taking a dog in the ring at the Westminster show in New York (twice now).

Scary one - seeing my father collapse at Bryce Canyon, Utah, down in the canyon and well away from any road or phone coverage. (He was OK)

Turning up on a whim at Duxford one weekday, only to find a crowd watching the Queen open the American Museum there.

Being inside Parliament on the day of the big protest against tuition fees.

A party in the Lord Speaker's residence at Westminster

Standing between the two towers of the World Trade Centre looking up.

Managing to cause great embarrassment to one of my teachers at school in an assembly and getting away with it, even though he knew it was my doing.

[Hydromet]

Seeing a comet in about 1970 with my naked eye, while on picquet at about 0200.
Camping in far north South Australia, and not seeing another campfire or light within the surrounding horizon.
Seeing the Aurora Australis (twice).
Doing the 3 Capes walk with my daughter.
Seeing three large pieces and numerous smaller pieces of space debris re-entering the atmosphere together.
Barbecue and (many) drinks at "some blokes place" in Honiara. "Some bloke" turned out to be the Governor.

[OneHungLow]

The sight of the Concorde coming in low over Zoo Lake Swimming pool while it was undergoing hot and high trials at Jan Smuts airport. Everybody in the pool got out of the water and applauded.

Standing at a public viewing point at Cape Canaveral watching the Space Shuttle blast off, the ground juddering and being amazed that the glow from the boosters was so bright that I had to look away, with everybody around me, applauding and some crying. It was a profoundly affecting moment.

Watching Clay Reggazoni's BRM plough into the Armco at Crowthorne corner at Kyalami and the car turn into fireball as Mike Hailwood leapt into the flames and started undoing the stricken driver's seat belts, thus encouraging the dithering marshals to get into close and extinguish the fire and thus save Reggazoni's life. (There is some footage of the incident... ah here its is)... I was sitting in the crowd some 50 metres up from where this happened. When Regazzoni was pulled clear, the whole crowd was standing applauding Hailwood for being the extremely brave man he was.



Watching the evening sun set into the Atlantic as a huge ball of fire at the end of the long road down from Steinkopf to Port Nolloth and me getting off my bike and applauding nature for its perfection...

I could go and on...