I was walking the dogs around with my son (both wearing our Gen3s, like good NVG addicts we both are) when I kinda glanced at a large patch of clear sky, (rare here in Detroit during winter) just to check if we could do a quick astronomy session later in the evening. So after scanning for the clouds in the horizon, look at Orion, some of the stars, the Pleiades, etc...  my eyes glanced at some sort of construct made out of vertical streaks that seemed like they were shinning: at first I thought, "clouds?" Flip the bino up and try to see anything with my own eyes... nothing: all I see is the darn light pollution (near Detroit) flip it back, the intensity grows and it becomes a freaking Gen3 light show... Quickly tell my son to take a look to see if he sees what I am seeing and he confirms; so after he confirms I am 100% sure we are seeing some beautiful "Aurora Borealis" or aka Northern Lights... Needless to say: this is the first time in my life I've ever been able to see these... in any shape or form. Super amazing!! Called my wife over the radio and in just few minutes she comes and brings the DSLR, but unfortunately by the time she came the clouds already moved back into the clear skies and the northern lights were no more... so I couldn't take any pictures... but knowing that these show up in my scopes, I'll be sure to glance at the sky every night from now on to catch them!

Amazing!! Simply amazing...

G.

Too cool, - I have been chasing them for awhile with no luck! Even managed to elude me up in AK....

It is unfortunate, I know... I did want to have pics as well... but now I know the spot where I can see unobstructed 360 degrees of the sky to horizon and I'll attempt to check for then again tomorrow night.   I have a feeling that being so cold outside and the sun particles light up the atmosphere... however, the aurora wasn't as high as the cloud cover that came over.. you could still see a few traces of the aurora even when the clouds started to cover them up...

G.

That's awesome OP. I was once lucky enough to watch phytoplankton through my PVS-14 as me and a friend waded through the water at night.  It was one of the coolest things I have seen.

You can get a good report on if the Northern lights will be seen in your area if you check in here:  http://spaceweather.com/

They are more common in your area than mine, but I've seen them a few times looking north over the years and using the site as an aid.

Very cool to see when you get the chance to.

Thank you! That is super cool! Didn't know there was a site like that !

We'll be checking the site tonight... and this time we should be ready to snap a pic if they show up! :)

G.

Wow, must've been super nice man!! Shame is only green, but green beats not seeing anything at all!!

G.