The Strange Magic of the Aurora Borealis in Ohio
In our modern world, we know so much more about the phenomena called the Aurora Borealis, thanks to the internet and today’s scientific understanding. We see forecasts, understand the science of solar storms, and know when and where the Northern Lights might be visible. Yet, despite this knowledge, we still lack the opportunity to witness its spectacular light show due to the ever-increasing ambient light pollution of our cities - and that is the modern irony, knowing when it might happen but not being able to experience it.
That irony makes moments like the one I experienced in 1989 so magical. It's an experience etched into my memory so clearly as a 19 year old. At the time, I was home from college for a long break. My family home was just at the border of the city limits of Defiance, Ohio where there was more ambient light than in the rural countryside. of Ayersville, Ohio. On this particular evening, I was visiting a friend out in the countryside of Ayersville, where many of my high school friends lived and where my high school was located. It was the kind of quiet, dark place where, on any given night, you could look up and see a million stars. It was the late night of March 13, 1989.
This was an era where the phrases 'Aurora Borealis' or 'Northern Lights' simply weren't common vocabulary, and the internet wasn't there to tell us what we were seeing. Our knowledge was limited to what we were told, read in a newspaper, saw on the news or what we read in the pages of an encyclopedia and I had honestly never even heard of such a phenomena.
The spring night air was crisp as I left my friend’s house just a little after midnight and walked out on the crunchy gravel driveway to my little pick-up truck to drive home. The night was cloaked in darkness except as I looked up. I froze. My breath caught in my throat.
Above me, the sky was alive. Not with the typical map of stars, nor with the familiar glow of the moon, but with a wild swirling of brilliant colors. It was unlike anything I had ever witnessed, a spectacle that instantly stopped me in my tracks with pure amazement.
The colors moved and swirled and danced. Hues of fiery red bled into vibrant greens, transitioning to warm oranges. It wasn't a static. It was a living, breathing dance of light unfolding directly overhead. The light flowed and pulsed, like a curtain of colors.
I stood there, mesmerized, for what felt like an eternity. Time lost all meaning as I gazed upwards, my jaw dropping in silent awe. The display was directly overhead. It completely filled the night sky. I wasn't sure what I was seeing. I didn't know what to make of it. It was beautiful, yes, but also utterly mysterious—a phenomenon without a label. I didn’t have a smart phone to google and find out what I was actually witnessing. It was just me, my truck, the vast Ohio countryside, and the universe putting on its most spectacular show.
The sheer scale of the aurora was overwhelming. As a 19-year-old, that moment was more than I could possibly comprehend. It was a powerful feeling of cosmic energy—a sudden, beautiful reminder of the universe's incredible artistry. It was a gift, a moment of connection to something vast in the cosmos.
Since that night, many years have passed and I now live in the suburbs of New York where there is just too much ambient light to even see the stars these days. I've watched the forecasts, hoped for another glimpse, but the conditions have never aligned, the ambient light always too dominant. The memory, however, remains as vivid as ever. It's a beacon, a reminder to the fact that even in unexpected places, and at unexpected times, the Earth still holds wonders capable of utterly transfixing us.
💫 The Enduring Magic of March 13, 1989
Now with the ability to research in depth what that expereince truly was, I realize that what I witnessed was a truly rare experience to behold—the peak moment of a historic Extreme Geomagnetic Storm. That stunningly beautiful display of nature defied my young mind and filled the entire sky. It wasn't just light; it was the knowledge that there is a strong power at work. That magical experience of the aurora: forces us to look up, feel small, and believe in the mysteries of the universe.
💡Inspired by the Aurora Borealis
Perhaps the greatest gift that night offered was the feeling of pure, unadulterated magic. That sudden appearance of vibrant light and impossible color, swirling through the deep night sky, mirrors the wonder and delight we chase —that sense of something larger, grander, and more beautiful existing just beyond our everyday view. I still hope to witness it again one day, but I feel that I may just have to visit the Northern “auroral zone” where it is most typically seen to get another glimpse of it. In the meantime, I carry that memory and the feeling it conjured with me and try to re-live it in these ways:
Seek that Special Place: The aurora only showed its full spectacle from a remote, pitch-black location. Schedule time to visit or create your own "special place"—a place away from the daily rush and chaos—where you can genuinely rest and appreciate the beauty of life without distraction.
Look Up and Be Stunned: The most powerful magic happens when you least expect it. Pause and let yourself be stunned by a simple beauty—the twinkle of lights, a shared laugh, a quiet snowfall, a stunning sunrise or sunset—rather than focusing on the lists of things to do and the busy noise.
Embrace the Unexplained Wonder: You don''t need to know the science to feel the magic. Embrace the powerful feelings and emotions that can't be logically explained. Let the wonder simply be, just like the mysterious, swirling light above the cornfield.