Meteorologist Breaks Down in Tears During Solar Eclipse and Everyone Gets It
If you were within the path of totality for yesterday's solar eclipse (or really, any solar eclipse within the last century), you don't need me to tell you what a moving, profound experience it is. When that black disc finally moves completely across the sun, and you can safely drop your glasses for a brief moment to stare up at the heavens unfiltered... well, there's just nothing else quite like it.
Witnessing an eclipse can have a significant emotional impact on people, even those who are used to scanning the skies for a living. When yesterday's eclipse reached its totality in the skies over Indiana, it was enough to move NBC Chicago meteorologist Pete Sack to tears.
Even as he reported for @nbcchicago, Pete Sack couldn't help but break down crying at the sight, clutching his face in awe. "I can't believe I'm able to bring this to you," he choked out. "We can see the halo, we can see the corona around the sun. The stars are starting to come out. This is just an amazing sight." Eventually, even he stopped his reporting to gaze up into the heavens, too awestruck to continue.
My Personal Eclipse Experience
This video moved me deeply, because while I was not in totality for this eclipse, I was in 2017, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in a field in middle Tennessee with my friends and hundreds of stargazers, and few memories have stayed with me as strong as the moment I took off my eclipse glasses at totality to see that it wasn't black and orange anymore, but a silver disc in a darkening sky, lined with a brilliant violet corona.
One of my friends immediately burst into tears, unable to explain why. Though I didn't cry, I stared upwards, transfixed, with my heart in my throat. It felt so profound, like seeing an old god or a divine miracle. It was almost Lovecraftian in its cosmic profundity, but without any of the dread or menace. The hundreds of people around me were all struck by the same awe and amazement, and for those fleeting moments, it felt somehow that all our normal divisions had melted away and united us as humanity. To put it simply: I get it, Pete Sack.
Why Do Eclipses Have Such a Psychological Impact?
Why is witnessing a solar eclipse so psychologically profound? The scientific explanation is almost bland: it's just the moon passing between the earth and the sun for a brief moment in time. So why does the sight of it shake us to our cores?
Forbes actually discussed this collective psychological phenomenon yesterday, and offered a two-part explanation. Firstly, seeing it (especially when surrounded by so many other watchers), really instills a collective sense of wonder and inspires watchers to rethink their place in the universe, if only for a moment. Secondly, because of that collective experience across the globe, it also calls to mind the universality of human experience, further enhancing that feeling of unity, empathy, and awe.
Besides, with solar eclipses holding a prominent place throughout cultural myths around the world dating back thousands of years, as Forbes notes, I wonder if there's an instinctual genetic memory that triggers a feeling of awe and humility in the face of "the cosmic ballet," to quote Leonad Nimony in The Simpsons. Whether you're an average Joe, a veteran stargazer, or a seasoned meteorologist like Pete Sack, we're all in the presence of something far greater than all of us during a total eclipse, and it's a realization that we all must have to reckon with.
In the end, isn't that worth celebrating, too?
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