The naked eye sunspot caused quite a commotion both on Earth as well as in space. Flares, coronal mass ejections, and a sunspot group the size of 13 Earths arroused astronomers all over the world. Most of the North American continent had cloud cover, and when the report of a major auroral storm on the horizon came we did not know if we had a chance to see it. The Moon phase was First Quarter and the geomagnetic K index had reached 8. Just a few places had clear skies. Kansas was not one of those places, but I was anxious anyway.
    I had my alarm set for 1 a.m., when I thought the Moon would be set, but the phone rang around 10:30 (CST) and that started the motion. You know the phrase from the "Night Before Christmas," "...I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter...". Well, I sprang from my bed to make quite the clatter...getting my camera outside to take photos.
    Mike and I went to the end of our driveway and saw the red glow. It was blended in with the clouds that hung low to the ground. There was an opening just above the northern horizon that opened up to give us a wider opening to look through. It did not last long, just long enough to give our adrenaline a rapid push through the old veins and arteries.
    Clouds overtook the dancing red lights, so we went in for another attempt at sleep for a short while. I reset the alarm for around 3 a.m., but I didn't get to hear it go off. The phone rang again around 12:30. The voices on the other end of the line were stressed. The report of what I heard is posted at http://www.geocities.com/cosmicmark/. You can read it for yourself.
    I was the first one out the door and stopped in my tracks just as I stepped outside and looked up. I didn't even make it off the deck! I yelled back inside for Mike to "...get out here!" I didn't have to wait long. He was out the door right behind me. The clouds were those big, puffy ones that leave openings between them. The blood red color shined through the openings. It gave me goose bumps! Still does, thinking about it.
    That display ended with the clouds sealing up the sky, so we called it quits after a few photos were taken. I left the alarm set for 3, but when I got back up the clouds were still thick and no aurora could be seen from where we were.

BC