I was lucky enough to see the northern lights while traveling through Alaska about 20 years ago. I saw them one night, and it was cool -- mainly some wispy white clouds dancing across the sky. Then, a few days later, I almost drove right off the highway as the sky opened up! My traveling companion and I ended up lyaing down in the middle of the road for what seemed like hours, as one massive wave of blue light after another swept across the sky at a rate of speed that still blows my mind to think about. I remember describing it as a fire hose of light being sprayed across the sky. Thanks for the post.