Decades ago I had the chance to visit Riverside Telescope Makers Conference at Big Bear in California. Amazing experience and I think i did not sleep more than a few hours during the whole deal.
Of course, being a newly arrived "Resident Alien" at the time, I had little knowledge of the local environment and had a doozy of an encounter at about 2:00 am one night.
I had been running one of the domes for the evening and when I lost my voice from talking hours on end, I got relieved from duty. I started heading back to my camp area but got a little disoriented in the dark and then got distracted looking at the most amazing Milkyway.... then I got the impression I was not alone and my dark adaption was good enough to see a series of shapes around me, all about the same size... little sounds coming from both sides and in front of me set every hair on my neck absolutely upright and I froze... NOT my imagination!
Cautiously, I raised my RED light torch and thought, I'll bust one of you Bast*ards good before you take me down... and then did the dumbest thing possible... I turned it on
There before me in 3 directions were a dozen sets of eye's, blazing red and slanted inward like evil incarnate..
:wi nk2:
Well, I can tell you, the old sphincter retracted like the recoil from a 150mm howitzer and I left the area in the opposite direction almost as fast as that herd of wild donkeys.... with them braying their heads off, I suspect in hysterical laughter
I will NEVER forget that sense of utter terror
