Good omen from shooting star is wish from 747 pilot
By Geoffrey Thomas Sat Jul 4, 2020
A good omen from a shooting star is the wish from 747 pilot Christiaan van Heijst as he speeds vital cargo across Europe.
Christiaan takes up the story;
"My phone rang.. could I please help out and fly a Tel Aviv-run through the night? Organized chaos on the other side of the line: the air cargo market is working at full capacity now and last-minute charters pop up all the time.
"I postponed my Friday night plans, hit the road and blended in with the Flying Circus upon arrival at the airport.
"At least I'm treated with a bright moon to accompany me tonight over a cloudless Europe. The distant Alps, the Balkans, and Turkey sail by in the familiar white-grey light while cities and villages glow in the dark.
READ: Qantas to farewell 747 with joy flights.
"Strange as it may sound, I feel my life and spirit are somehow influenced by the moon for as long as I can remember, and I'm aware of that calming spell once again this flight. I gaze at the moon, at the stars, at the world below. See how her light is reflecting from countless miniature lakes and rivers. Silver sparkles on the ground.
"This month's full moon is a special one. Inspiration seems to be rising in waves, good fortune stepped in and this inexplicable feeling something very positive happening soon is growing ever stronger. Something is in the air.
"And just like that, a bright meteor flashed up in the night sky. Neon green, brilliantly luminous, and gone forever. The last moments of a space pebble, a leftover from when our solar system formed billions of years ago. I just witnessed its final moments of existence as it plunged through Earth's atmosphere: vaporized and no more. Unnoticed for five billion years but appreciated and immortalized in its final moment by a Dutch pilot with a camera.
"I stopped making wishes many moons ago, I would not even know what to wish for. I'd rather see things come to fruition through perseverance and hard work, and what I cannot influence is not for me to worry about.
"But tonight I decided to consider it as an omen of good fortune. Even after such an eternity of orbiting the Sun, this shooting star made a difference in the last millisecond of its journey.
"Have you ever seen a shooting star? Did your wishes come true? Let us know in the comments!!
"Have a nice weekend!"
Christiaan is one of the world’s leading aviation photographers and more of his work and more close encounter (s) can be found here.
You can follow Christiaan on Instagram here: @jpcvanheijst
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