The Cosmic Privacy Issue

 Remember how we used to watch TV shows and for every half-hour show there was 23 minutes of actual show and 7 minutes of commercials? And how we'd moan and groan about it? 

So, this morning, I was surfing the 'net and glimpsed a large-font headline about a "possible meteor" seen in the Texas sky. I clicked into the article. There were videos. I clicked on one to start it, watched ads for several seconds before realizing it was ALL ads and not "content," so I scrolled down and found the real video. I clicked on the "go" triangle and watched a 30 second commercial. Finally the footage of what was apparently the Texas night sky appeared and I got to watch a tiny dot of white light streak across this black backdrop--it lasted maybe three seconds. 

That's it. Three seconds. I've been duped, I thought. I watched maybe 40 seconds of commercials to see three seconds of a very anti-climactic shooting star. Shame on me. 

The good news: I watched about five videos of a meteor over Norway--this was a doozy, and worth the price of admission, but the real striking thing about all the coverage was . . . all the coverage.  Somehow, the spectacle of a streaking meteor and fireball that lasted less than a second got recorded on several devices--some of a fairly high quality. This means that if there really are UFOs, we are finally going to get to see a picture of one, and not one taken with some Kodak Brownie camera with a lens from a Cracker Jack's box. 

I can't wait.