GAS PAIN: Lest any of our readers think Bradford gas prices have
suddenly come in line with the rest of the country, consider this
report from Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Jim Magee of Bradford wrote us Tuesday, “No snow here, Gas was
,2.99 the first of January. It is now it is now ,2.74.”

We paid ,3.22 on Wednesday, resulting in a record high fill-up
price of over ,50. And this is just a plain old sedan, not a
gas-guzzling SUV or four-wheel-drive truck.

One can only wonder why it might be that the politicians in
Washington, D.C., are having such a hard time grasping the concept
of “inflation” or – dare we say it? – “recession.”

One weeps for reason.

LOOK UP: We must harken back to an item we carried in the middle
of December. A woman reported an unusual set of lights when trailed
off to the east. We believe it was in the Duke Center area but our
memory “ain’t” what it used to be.

A few explanations were offered, including one that the lights
were created when a rocket booster from a launch at Cape Canaveral
burned up when dropping through the atmosphere.

But we had a call about perhaps something else from quite a few
years ago.

Janette Church of Shinglehouse was driving home in the early
1980s and saw a slender cylinder hovering in a field near where
homes now exist near the Y at Duke Center and Rixford. At the time,
it was an open field.

Janette was not the only one to observe this item and other
people had exited their vehicles to take a look at it.

There was no sound. But this large item was hovering right over
the horizon.

She’s quite sure this phenomenon occurred during the cold months
of the year.

Janette tells us she hadn’t thought about it for quite awhile
but that our report in December sparked her memory.

And, so, we ask … Does anyone remember this or have an
explanation?

We know that optical illusions are not uncommon in the sky,
particularly when it’s cold outside and ice particles and light
team up to create strange stellar sights. We’ve seen the northern
lights and seen halos around the sun and moon, and have heard of –
but never seen – snow pillars.