This actually occured in the late 80's.

It has left a question mark in my memory to this day.

Perhaps this is a common occurrence around the globe, but to me, it was both shocking and mysterious.

We were driving south on a major highway in Northern California, heading home on the peninsula.  This particular highway rides fast and easy against the reservoir and the adjacent low mountain range this side of the Pacific Ocean.

It's difficult not to be lulled into a state of ennui during this particular drive as it is surreal in it's beauty and unmatched scenery.  The speed was matched by the feeling of power over the road, guarded by nature at it's best.  This was and is the terrain of the North Bay.

With barely a glance to the right and the upward sky, our eyes were suddenly drawn to an out of body experience that was revealing itself before our eyes and our minds.  It couldn't be.

In the very moment of it's conception, there was an explosion matched only by it's sudden splurge of color and dimension, splaying outward from it's center and the core of it's mysterious origin.

The irredesiant rainbow of fluttery fingers reached far out into the sky, first reaching as high as one can see, followed by a descending dance of fireworks, streams of light and a display, the likes of which we had never seen before.

This was truly an explosion of  dynamic proportions.  First seen as if a missile launching into the heavens, it stopped dead in it's tracks and previewed it's splendor in a hesitation of wonder.  First mesmerizing and shocking, it came back with an encore of prolific colors and gestures, only to be seen as a possible horrific display of unknown proportions.

What in the world was this?  In a simultaneous, "Oh my god," we pulled over to the side of the road and looked at one another with utter shock and a firing squad of questions that neither of us could answer.  So, we called a local radio station to see if anyone else had reported this mysterious phenomenon.  Indeed, at least 108 other callers had seen a similar sight within the first ten minutes of it's eruption.

We're talking a citing of a missile-like shooting star of an object, propelled into the sky over a heavily populated area of a San Francisco bedroom community, just outside of Palo Alto and home to Stanford University and the lesser known "Nuclear Accelerator Facility," where god knows what is being done, near and uncomfortably close to thousands of homes, schools every 3.5 miles, more or less and families, businesses and the like, going about their business as usual.

We were both scared and anxious for answers as to what in the world we had just seen.  Without taking our eyes off of the scattered legs and arms of this explosion in all it's glory, we sat motionless, waiting on the cell phone for an answer.  Any answer that would allow us to either remain where we were or gas it up and get the hell out of there.  We decided on the latter.  This was, afterall, too close for comfort and had occurred visually and directly, overhead of us.

What if there had been some kind of "fall out" or poisonous gas or fumes resulting in permanent damage to our lungs or worse, in death, within a certain number of miles from the explosion?  All this and more was flooding our minds and imaginations in those moments; long drawn out mintues after what we had just witnessed.  Should we stay or should we get the hell out of there?  We just drove in silence for the next 10 miles, occasionally looking back to see if there would be even more occurrences of the same kind.

That was it.  There were no more, thank goodness.  But our hearts kept pounding as we drove farther and farther away from the 'scene of the crime,' or so it would seem.  What else could it be?  It had to be something unholy, some colosal mistake, or some form of experiment or attack on our precious land?  It could be so many things, yet there were no answers coming from the authorities.  Just silence.  Music and news continued to play on the radio, as if nothing had happened.

The police department was no help at all.  They were receiving phone calls of the citing as rapidly as the talk show radio stations.  "Stay tuned," was all they could say, while hundreds of observers waiting with baited breath for some sensible reason for what we had all seen in the sky.

We stayed up very late that night, listening to the news, switching the channels, back and forth, hoping to hear an explanation of what had transpired just hours ago, now.  Nothing.  Not a word.  Nada.  No sleep that night as we layed in bed, whispering the "what ifs," the silent fear filling us with the adrenalin of a thousand stampeding horses.

Another day went by.  Then, yet another!  How could this be?!

Finally, two whole days later, word came on the TV and radio that a missile being tested at fort Ord in Monterey, California, a former military base now closed, was mistakenly launched and vectored off course out over the ocean about 100 miles south of where this mysterious occurrence appeared before the eyes of hundreds of witnesses.  None of what we heard rang true.  It had happened much farther north of where they claimed it to be and uncomfortably close to our city by the Bay.  No way was it that far south of us and out over the ocean!  It had happened over the foothills, inland of the Pacific, without a doubt.  According to where the military officials claimed it had occurred, it would have been virtually impossible for us to have seen it at all.  No way in hell, could that be true, which led us to extreme discomfort, fear and a knowingness that we would likely never realize the truth.

It is indelibly imprinted in our minds and will live there, in doubt, forever.

The "story" soon disappeared into the ether of other newsworthy copy, or so they would have us believe.  But some of us know, to this day, that there was no plausible explanation for what we all saw that evening, just after sunset, where the sky lit up like the fourth of July, in all it's mystery and wonder.

It shot up into the sky, like a "bat out of hell," into a deeper hell of the unknown, unadmitted, undisclosed and the unrelentless admission of nothing.

There is little reason why we wonder about the truth in matters of military secrecy and the inner workings of the government on "our behalf."  There is more reason to believe that we will never really know.

So, do we buy into the myth that "What we don't know can't hurt us?"  Is it quite simply that it is easier to lie to ourselves and accept the status quo for fear of what the true impact of that may be?  Do we have our heads so deeply planted in the sand that we cannot see what lies ahead of us?

Yes and no?  Who cares?  Life goes on?

But, for how long?  Wait and see?

Guess we'll just have to keep our fingers and toes crossed.

"For now."