<p>A little over half a year ago, I think it was mid March 2015, I glanced out of my window at about 4 am, to see what appeared to be a very bright total lunar eclipse, as in, the moon was full and bright orange-red. As I watched, it disappeared before my eyes, looking as if someone slid a paper down in front of it. The moon was not full that night (and by extension that means that there couldn't have been an eclipse that night) and the next few nights, the moon was on the other side of the sky at 4 am.</p>

<p>The room I was in was dark, so it couldn't have been a reflection on the window of something inside the house. It might have been a reflection on the window of something outside the house, but that's not very likely, because it was very bright and opaque (something would have to be really bright to look so bright and opaque when reflected off a window, and I can't think of anything that would have been so bright. Plus, I probably would have noticed something something so bright), it didn't move when I moved my head around, and it looked exactly like the moon – it had the same dark and light spots. I would have taken a picture of it, it would be a lot easier to understand what I mean if you would see it, but it disappeared really fast.</p>

<p>It might have been a reflection on the clouds. I don't recall if there were clouds in the sky, I wasn't paying that much attention to the sky around it, because while it was happening I just thought it was an eclipse. But if it was a reflection on the clouds, there's still the question of what was being reflected.</p>

<p>I asked someone who knows a lot about a bunch of topics, but is not good at explaining what he means, what it could have been, and he said something about solar flares, I didn't really get what he was saying. I would ask him again, but I don't know him personally and I don't know how to contact him, and in any case, I don't think he would explain it any better the second time.</p>

<p>I searched everywhere I could possibly think of (on the web, on Q&amp;A sites, on SE) for a cause for this, but couldn't find anything like it.</p>

<p>What I'm asking is this: Could it have been a reflection on the clouds, and if so, what could it have been of? Could it have been caused by a solar flare or something like it, and if so, how? Is there an astronomical event that occurred around that time that could have caused something like that, and if so, what and how?</p>

<p>This question was put on hold as unclear what you're asking, so if anyone has any suggestions that can make the question more clear, I would love to hear it. I wish I could be more precise about when it happened, or what exactly it looked like, but I didn't write it down or note it in any way at the time, so this is pretty much all I remember.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-28T07:17:40.790Z
Probably clouds. See [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGiD-CoNur4).
Brian Lynch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-28T21:42:53.127Z
Other side of the sky from **_what?_** Where it was supposed to be? Where a full moon would be?
Eubie Drew
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-28T21:47:23.560Z
The next night at 4 am the moon was on the opposite side of the sky as the image of the eclipse
GRS
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-28T21:58:25.463Z
@ChanaKorenblit I am pretty sure were looking at a reflection, off your window or something else.
Eubie Drew
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-28T22:28:03.183Z
@Aabaakawad It couldn't have been a reflection off the window, the moon was nowhere nearby, and if you say it was off the clouds or something else, what was it a reflection of? The moon wasn't full
GRS
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-29T01:33:14.567Z
@ChanaKorenblit propably was not the moon at all, but something in the house reflected of the window, or something unknown outside the house. Since the shape (full) and color (red) were "wrong", likely the moon was not involved. Anyway, there is no meteorological or astronomical explanation.
Eubie Drew
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-29T01:45:02.917Z
I doubt it was anything in the house reflecting off the window, because as far as I can recall, I was in a room that was completely dark. It also seems unlikely that it was a reflection off the window, because it was very opaque, didn't move around when I moved, and it had the same dark spots as the moon. The whole thing just seems strange, but the person that I asked was convinced that it had something to do with a solar flare, I just couldn't understand what. Could that possibly cause a reflection or something?
GRS
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-29T23:11:08.420Z
You mistook a dream for reality, misinterpreted something banal, or you are making it up. If the moon wasn't full, it wasn't the moon, it wasn't an astronomical object.
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-01T10:01:29.680Z
I edited the question, hopefully that will make it more clear. If you can think of anything it could possibly be, I want to hear it, this is really bothering me, because it didn't seem like a reflection on the window.
GRS
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-15T00:54:22.767Z
I edited the question to make it more specific about two weeks ago. I also asked that if it's still unclear to let me know how it's unclear. No one has commented to explain what is wrong with my question, so I don't understand what is wrong. I'm new to this site, so I'm not very familiar with how to write a question, but it seems fine to me. I really don't want this question to remain closed, so if there is a big problem in my question that I can fix, please leave a comment so I know what that is. If there isn't a way, then choose a different reason for closing the question to make that clear.
GRS
<the-moon><amateur-observing><solar-flare><lunar-eclipse>
Illusion of a lunar eclipse
GRS
# Illusion of a lunar eclipse

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-28)

A little over half a year ago, I think it was mid March 2015, I glanced out of my window at about 4 am, to see what appeared to be a very bright total lunar eclipse, as in, the moon was full and bright orange-red. As I watched, it disappeared before my eyes, looking as if someone slid a paper down in front of it. The moon was not full that night (and by extension that means that there couldn't have been an eclipse that night) and the next few nights, the moon was on the other side of the sky at 4 am.

The room I was in was dark, so it couldn't have been a reflection on the window of something inside the house. It might have been a reflection on the window of something outside the house, but that's not very likely, because it was very bright and opaque (something would have to be really bright to look so bright and opaque when reflected off a window, and I can't think of anything that would have been so bright. Plus, I probably would have noticed something something so bright), it didn't move when I moved my head around, and it looked exactly like the moon – it had the same dark and light spots. I would have taken a picture of it, it would be a lot easier to understand what I mean if you would see it, but it disappeared really fast.

It might have been a reflection on the clouds. I don't recall if there were clouds in the sky, I wasn't paying that much attention to the sky around it, because while it was happening I just thought it was an eclipse. But if it was a reflection on the clouds, there's still the question of what was being reflected.

I asked someone who knows a lot about a bunch of topics, but is not good at explaining what he means, what it could have been, and he said something about solar flares, I didn't really get what he was saying. I would ask him again, but I don't know him personally and I don't know how to contact him, and in any case, I don't think he would explain it any better the second time.

I searched everywhere I could possibly think of (on the web, on Q&A sites, on SE) for a cause for this, but couldn't find anything like it.

What I'm asking is this: Could it have been a reflection on the clouds, and if so, what could it have been of? Could it have been caused by a solar flare or something like it, and if so, how? Is there an astronomical event that occurred around that time that could have caused something like that, and if so, what and how?

This question was put on hold as unclear what you're asking, so if anyone has any suggestions that can make the question more clear, I would love to hear it. I wish I could be more precise about when it happened, or what exactly it looked like, but I didn't write it down or note it in any way at the time, so this is pretty much all I remember.

**Tags:** the-moon, amateur-observing, solar-flare, lunar-eclipse

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Probably clouds. See [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGiD-CoNur4).  
> **username_2**: Other side of the sky from **_what?_** Where it was supposed to be? Where a full moon would be?  
> **username_0**: The next night at 4 am the moon was on the opposite side of the sky as the image of the eclipse  
> **username_2**: @ChanaKorenblit I am pretty sure were looking at a reflection, off your window or something else.  
> **username_0**: @Aabaakawad It couldn't have been a reflection off the window, the moon was nowhere nearby, and if you say it was off the clouds or something else, what was it a reflection of? The moon wasn't full  
> **username_2**: @ChanaKorenblit propably was not the moon at all, but something in the house reflected of the window, or something unknown outside the house. Since the shape (full) and color (red) were "wrong", likely the moon was not involved. Anyway, there is no meteorological or astronomical explanation.  
> **username_0**: I doubt it was anything in the house reflecting off the window, because as far as I can recall, I was in a room that was completely dark. It also seems unlikely that it was a reflection off the window, because it was very opaque, didn't move around when I moved, and it had the same dark spots as the moon. The whole thing just seems strange, but the person that I asked was convinced that it had something to do with a solar flare, I just couldn't understand what. Could that possibly cause a reflection or something?  
> **username_3**: You mistook a dream for reality, misinterpreted something banal, or you are making it up. If the moon wasn't full, it wasn't the moon, it wasn't an astronomical object.  
> **username_0**: I edited the question, hopefully that will make it more clear. If you can think of anything it could possibly be, I want to hear it, this is really bothering me, because it didn't seem like a reflection on the window.  
> **username_0**: I edited the question to make it more specific about two weeks ago. I also asked that if it's still unclear to let me know how it's unclear. No one has commented to explain what is wrong with my question, so I don't understand what is wrong. I'm new to this site, so I'm not very familiar with how to write a question, but it seems fine to me. I really don't want this question to remain closed, so if there is a big problem in my question that I can fix, please leave a comment so I know what that is. If there isn't a way, then choose a different reason for closing the question to make that clear.  

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