Monthly Archives: March 2016

X-89 Alien Planet Buster Aurora Borealis Attack

Alien invaders attacked Mother Earth last night. Using their X-89 planet buster ray gun, the aliens blasted the mountain top upon which Molly and Rich had just been standing. The loving couple from northeast Minnesota barely escaped with their lives down a remote road along a fjord in Norway north of the Arctic Circle.

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The road was now too dangerous, and the two scared humans tried hiking up away from the road to reach a mountain pass and hoped for safety. The aliens took another shot at the same mountain as before. Rich and Molly thought, perhaps they were were safe?

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Oh my, no … just before they reached the pass, the invaders blew it to smithereens, their hoped for safe haven was now an eruption of green pulsating rays.

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With no other option, Molly and Rich turned around and started to retrace their path down the mountain through the deep snow, which is when the worst attack occurred … The Circle of Fire! Yes, the aliens stopped targeting specific locations, and used their planet buster X-Y341 weapon which lights the sky on fire, burning up oxygen in swirling bars of fire. Good bye planet earth, we only hope this blog post can be finished and warn …. (transmission interrupted, web connection lost).

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Arctic Aurora!

My wife and I are in Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. We took the Norwegian ferry system up the coast, and last night we hit the jackpot in a mountain pass between two fjords. Everywhere else was cloudy, but the elevation got us away from the Gulf Stream which tends to manufacture clouds in the Arctic.

I call the first photo, Stairway to Heaven! Only a ten second exposure at ISO 800 (f 2.8). The show was amazing. For 45 minutes till the clouds rolled in these rays would start at the tops of various mountains, and then grow to the Zenith and beyond.

For those of you who understand Aurora Borealis conditions, I have also included a screenshot of Ovation Aurora and what the Northern Lights conditions were like when we got back to our hotel. The Kp index was running between 7 and 8!!!

Finally, Molly has published a review of our Hurtigruten Ferry/Cruise experience. If you ever wish to see the Norwegian Coast in winter it’s worth a read.

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Arctic Sunrise

The captain came over the loudspeaker at 7 am this morning: “In ten minutes we will be passing a globe which you will see on an island on our port side”. As promised we saw the globe and passed north of the Arctic Circle. Given the warmth of the Gulf Stream, the temperature hovers around 32F. However, when on shore, if one leaves the water behind and climbs to any elevation, the temperature drops quickly.

This region along the Norwegian Coast is starkly beautiful. The mountains come right down to the ocean, and the land is severe. Birds have been few and far between. We are entering an area where white tailed eagles are supposed to be numerous. I will keep my eyes on the cliffs, but today’s bird is another male Common Eider which I spied in the Bodo, Norway Harbor.

Norwegian Arctic Circle Sunrise

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Common Eider in the harbor of Bodo, Norway

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The Polaris, our sister Hurtigruten ship steamed alongside us after sunset last night!

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