I saw them once in the 80s while camping in the north country in the middle of the night. Despite many attempts I had never seen them again, and my wife had never seen them. Over the last few years, the most likely night have turned out to be cloudy. Our sons and their families on the Arctic Circle see them often, including absolutely spectacular sightings.
A FB posting from only minutes before sent us out into the cold, and we did get to see them. One can often see them better through the camera lens, and if one can keep the camera still (I cannot - I have always had tremble) with the aperture open the effect is multiplied. My wife got this shot last night. Not spectacular, but real.
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I lucked into seeing them one night in the early 2000s back in Iowa returning home from the office after a middle of the night software install. I suspect I may also have seen them very faintly on a similar cold clear night when I was kid. Saw some pictures on FB from around the Louisville area last night where they were quite visible, as well as from my hometown in Iowa. I'm going to at least try tonight but the bulk of the city is to our north so there may be too much ground light.
First time I ever saw them was out the window of a jet on a transatlantic flight. Distant, but beautiful. The second time there must have been one heck of a solar storm, because they looked almost overhead at 43 degrees latitude. Last night during the peak most of the state was cloud-covered, and the storm had died down somewhat by 1:30, but at 5am I could see a tall red-pillared glow through the haze.
Turns out a few bands were overhead tonight--though so faint that they had no color.
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