It's happening. On August 21, 2017, the total solar eclipse will be in play across the country.
From 9:06 a.m. in Madras, Oregon to 4:06 p.m. in Columbia, South Carolina, the eclipse will be taking place.
Many people in the United States are going to be near and in the perfect areas to view the eclipse, but for those of you not close enough, let me tell you what is going on in the totality zones.
In the city of St. Louis, there are many towns near and far that are going to be watching the eclipse. Finding the proper viewing glasses to watch the moon pass in front of the sun is scarce though. The St. Louis Science center is close to running out and any place that should carry them is either sold out or they don't have them. You would think in a city as populated as St. Louis, and being so close to the zone of totality that they would have these glasses everywhere. People everywhere are emphasizing the importance of safety and having proper eye equipment for viewing the eclipse. If you look at the eclipse without the proper eye equipment it can actually burn and damage your eyes, but your eyes do not have pain receptors so you will not know until a couple days later when your vision becomes impaired. Amazon recently put out a warning that the glasses they sold for the eclipse are not guaranteed safe, they refunded customers who bought them, but the glasses have now doubled in price and are hard to find. With the eclipse coming soon, scavenging for glasses is becoming a difficult task.
Many cities urge for people to be safe during the eclipse. In Chester, Illinois, the police department encourages people not to be driving during the time of the eclipse. NASA predicts that August 21st will be one of the worst traffic days in national history. With 12 million people in the zone of the eclipse and another 25 million nearby visitors traveling to see the eclipse, the roads will be packed. I highly advise people not to be driving during the time of the eclipse.
In the totality zone of Oregon, hospitals are beefing up the staff and cancelling elective surguries, they have stocked up on rattlesnake venom anecdote and other supplies as well. They know people will be out in the rural wilderness to get a good view of the eclipse. Animals are known to have ritualistic acts and strange behaviors when eclipses happen, so that explains the rattlesnake venom, but will people start acting like animals when the eclipse in in full effect? It seems like hospitals are preparing for a natural disaster or an apocalypse of some sort. Meanwhile in the St. Louis area, the hospitals have no order to stock up on emergency room staff or to cancel elective surguries. What is going on in Oregon that is not going on in Illinois?
Alcohol sales have also increased to 40% above the average rate around the areas where the eclipse can be viewed. Great, so people will be getting drunk and staring at the sun at the same time, no wonder the hospitals are taking precautions. The sales of tents, RV's and other outdoor equiptment has increased along the strip of land where the eclipse is going to happen as well. This total eclipse is suppost to take place for 3 minutes at the longest, the starting and ending of the entire eclipse is suppost to be 3 hours max, but why are people stocking up like they are going ot be out in the wilderness for a month?
In the zone of totality, people are renting plots of land for viewing the eclipse, they go for about $50-$200, depending on the size of the land you want for the day. Many small towns are taking advantage of the tourist coming to see the eclipse by selling t-shirts, glasses, and other eclipse related souvineers. After all, money is money.
Some small towns that claim they had 'alien encounters' in the past, think that the eclipse is the summoning of the aliens back to their town. Could this possibly be true? Is this natural phenomenon a sign of something? The Little Green Men Festival in Hopkinsville, Kentucky is taking place on the same day when the solar eclipse is happening. Weird right?
With the apocalypse-like behavoir and strange things going on across small towns in America, is this solar eclipse a sign that the end is near? No one knows for sure, but be prepared if you start to see little green men apear after the eclipse is over.
