Four hours of fantasy in the air

Thursday, October 10, I boarded the Air Canada flight at 9 pm EST from Toronto heading west to Calgary. I expected a Gravol-driven four hours of dozing before I landed. Who’d have known that those four hours would become the most extraordinary flight experience I’ve ever had.

First off, as we departed, I took this photo of the Toronto area. I thought to myself, hey, that was quite a nice pic. But not until I was up in the air the next hour did I realize there was something even more fantastic in store for me, manmade lightings compared to awesome cosmic wonders.

Our pilot had mentioned the possible appearance of the Aurora Borealis when we took off, but it didn’t occur to me to look out the window with much hope, because all I could see was the flashing red light from the right wing of the plane against the darkness. It’s only when the young man in front of me covering the head of his seat mate with his jacket as she did something by her window. I was wondering what they were doing when he showed me the photo they got on their phone of the Northern Lights.

For the next few hours I had taken over 100 photos on my iPhone. The amazing thing is, I could hardly see anything out the window with my naked eyes, but what’s caught by my camera lens was some fantastic sights. What I could see was only darkness, but what’s really happening was a cosmic show of spectacular wonders. And, I don’t mind the Air Canada logo on the wing in my pictures, just proved that I took these photos 30,000 feet up in the air.

Here are a few of them, no editing, no sharpening or colour changes, and of course, no AI generated effects.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Arti

If she’s not birding by the Pond, Arti’s likely watching a movie, reading, or writing a review. Creator of Ripple Effects, bylines in Asian American Press, Vague Visages, Curator Magazine.

23 thoughts on “Four hours of fantasy in the air”

  1. Oh, my goodness! What a treat! It’s interesting that your camera caught more than your eye could. One of our weather gurus made a point of saying to use the camera even if nothing seemed to be appearing. You certainly made good use of yours! There were quite a few pinks seen here in Texas, but the brilliant greens and such usually appear farther north — and high off the ground, apparently!

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  7. What a strange experience, to have taken pictures as a blind person might have done! It reminds me of when I stuck my phone up high into the birdhouse and took pictures of the baby birds that I never saw with my own eyes. Thank you for sharing the fruits of your labors.

    As to the lights themselves, in whatever way we “see” them, they always are ethereal and somewhat fantastical; no matter how well science explains them, they remain mysterious, and that must account for some of their incredible beauty.

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    1. The birding analogy is most apt, Gretchen. Thanks for throwing in your two pebbles into the Pond.
      There are, of course, scientific explanations for why the lights are invisible to the human eye but can be caught by the sharper eye of the camera lens. But you know, what comes to my mind isn’t scientific explanation but Psalm 19. 😉

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  10. Hi Arti. What a treat your photos are! I was on top of a hill in Vermont trying to see the Lights with the naked eye as well as with my IPhone camera. I saw pinks of various shades, but didn’t get any of the green or purple that were part of your magical experience— or part of my own when I saw the Aurora in Alaska years ago. Still I was grateful for and awed by the glimpses I got. A few nights later, my friend and I saw the comet quite clearly. Add these two new sightings to the solar eclipse we saw perfectly from Ohio months earlier, and we have had quite a remarkable demonstration of Mother Nature’s magic this year, don’t you think?

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    1. Indeed, you’re blessed to have sighted all these cosmic wonders in a personal way, Jay. How can we not be awe struck and grateful? Those are two very apt words that you’ve used to describe your experience. As for me, these verses came to mind: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” Ps. 19:1-2 Always a joy to read your comment, Jay. Take care!

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  11. Your photos are fabulous! And to see if from the sky — wow! When we “saw” the Northern Lights around here, I never did. We went to the dark, and people “saw” them through their phones but mine didn’t have the right setting to get the glorious photos. No matter. I’ve reveled in others. But what an experience for you!

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