XPost: alt.magick, sci.med.vision   
   From: dalton@nfld.com   
      
   In article ,   
    Mike Duffy  wrote on alt.magick :   
      
   > On Mon, 10 Mar 2014 02:17:36 -0230, David Dalton wrote:   
   >   
   > > ...  During the sun stare there was a tunneling ... similar to   
   > > what you see when you place two mirrors facing one another   
   >   
   >   
   > When light falls upon a flat surface, two things happen:   
   >   
   > 1) Some light is reflected. (Incidence angle = reflected angle)   
   > 2) Some light is refracted. (I1 * SIN(A_incident) = I2 * SIN(A_Refract))   
   >   
   > , where I1 & I2 are the "indices of refraction" of the materials. The   
   > coefficient of transmission (i.e. what fraction of the power is reflected   
   > vs. refracted) are a bit more complicated, (depends on wavelength, etc.).   
   >   
   > As you say, when two parallel flat surfaces of transparent meterials are   
   > impinged by a light beam, there is a characteristic "tunnel effect. They   
   > need not be perfect mirrors, or perfectly parallel if they are close, they   
   > only need be transparent materials with differing refaction indices.   
   >   
   > This also happens within the eye itself. The surfaces involved are the   
   > cornea (fron & back), aqueous humour, optic lens (front & back), and   
   > vitreous humour.   
   >   
   > The surfaces are not perfectly flat, but over the small area passed by a   
   > beam they are close enough. I have noticed this effect myself with street   
   > lights after a visit to my opthamologist when they put the drops in my eyes   
   > to completely dilate the irises.   
   >   
   > I believe that you said you were not wearing your glasses when you had the   
   > tunnel effect vision. The same situation applies because your iris   
   > (although probably resticted) was not in the proper plane to do its   
   > intended job of blocking out-of-focus rays. If you had been wearing your   
   > glasses, the multiple images of the sun would have been focused on one   
   > spot, causing permanent eye damage.   
   >   
   > So what you saw was not a glimpse into other dimension, but simply an   
   > optical effect.   
      
   Perhaps.   Yet nobody on sci.optics or sci.med.vision   
   has yet mentioned that.    Also if it was such an optical   
   effect I would have expected a larger tunnel starting   
   near me rather than a small dark tapered tunnel starting   
   at the sun, like a black swan's tail of the sun.   
      
   I have added sci.optics and sci.med.vision to the   
   Newsgroups line so those there can comment.  But as   
   a geophysicist I have enough background in optics   
   and ray tracing that I should be able to research   
   the matter myself, later.   
      
   And what about the giant butterfly wings of space   
   that folded in on me (like a giant metal vegetable   
   steamer or umbrella ribs in the sky) just after the   
   sun stare and just before I blacked out?   And what   
   about my blue rose vision later that night?   
      
   > > But due to risk of vision damage I wouldn't recommend   
   > > that anyone else repeat the incident,   
   >   
   > It is always a good idea to remind others of this who may try to repeat   
   > your experience. I have done the same with my reference above to "permanent   
   > eye damage".   
      
   --   
   David Dalton  dalton@nfld.com   http://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)   
   http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)   
   "But once there was a darkness, deep and endless night   
   You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light" (Sarah McLachlan)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)