
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 10, 1994                   TAG: 9405120149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

UNSAFE GLASSES EXCHANGED AFTER MIX-UP

A woman exchanged glasses she bought for neighborhood children to watch a partial solar eclipse after learning from news reports that the glasses could cause eye damage, a spokeswoman for the Science Museum of Virginia said Monday.

"Fortunately the story has a happy ending. She heard about it and came back in this morning," Joyce Parker-Johnson said.

Debbie Haynes, of Midlothian, went to the museum's gift shop Friday to purchase 12 pairs of special glasses that allow the wearer to view the eclipse without damage to the retina. The $1.50 reflective glasses safely deflect harmful solar rays.

Haynes wanted the glasses for neighborhood children after seeing them advertised during televised weather reports.

But a volunteer mistakenly sold Haynes glasses that give the wearer no protection.

The "rainbow glasses" are novelty items that give the illusion of a halo around objects.

When museum officials discovered the mistake hours later, they issued an appeal for the woman to return. The museum did not know her name or address.

The partial eclipse occurs about 1:30p.m. today. It is the last eclipse visible from the mainland United States until 2012.

An eclipse of the sun occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, sweeping a shadow across the Earth's surface.

It is never safe to look at the sun, which can cause blindness.

When eclipsed, the sun can cause burns to the retina in less than a second, even though the image would not appear bright to the eye.

Direct sunlight can sear the center of the retina, the part of the eye used for what doctors call central viewing, such as reading or watching television.

by CNB