‘It’s not worth taking a chance’: Man who was partially blinded after staring at a solar eclipse in 1962 warns Americans of making same mistake
Lou Tomososki, 70, of Oregon City, Oregon, remembers walking home from school with a friend one afternoon in 1962
For weeks, people had been talking with anticipation about the coming partial solar eclipse
As they looked at the sun at the moment that a piece of the moon hovered above it, they noticed flashes of light
Tomososki said he was warned by his teachers to use a pinhole projector box, which creates a reflection of the eclipse for safe viewing, but he didn’t listen
To this day, he struggles to see out of his right eye
By ARIEL ZILBER
DAILYMAIL.COM
21 August 2017
As millions of Americans prepare to take in the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse on Monday, one man who was partially blinded by a celestial event 50 years ago is warning against making the same mistake he did.
Lou Tomososki, 70, of Oregon City, Oregon, remembers walking home from school with a friend one afternoon in 1962.
For weeks, people had been talking with anticipation about the coming partial solar eclipse.
Naturally, Tomososki and his friend were eager to witness it.
‘The sun at that time, at 3:30 p.m., was in the one o’clock position,’ Tomososki told KGW-TV.
‘I said to Roger, “If you stare at it long enough the brightness goes away”.’
They looked at the sun at the moment the moon started to move in front, but started noticing flashes of light.
‘We both got burned at the same time,’ Tomososki told NBC’s TODAY on Sunday.
As Tomososki and a friend looked at the sun at the moment that a piece of the moon hovered above it, they noticed flashes of light.
‘He got the left eye and I got the right eye.’
Tomososki said he was warned by his teachers to use a pinhole projector box, which creates a reflection of the eclipse for safe viewing.
But he didn’t listen. To this day, he struggles to see out of his right eye.
‘We were just doing it for a short time,’ he said.
‘I have a little blind spot in the center of my right eye.’
‘You know how the news people blur a license plate out,’ said Tomososki.
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