On the morning commute today, I crested a hill between New Braunfels and San Marcos and was instantly dazzled by a brilliant crimson flash. It was extremely bright, and went away quickly. A moment later it appeared again, and I located its origin about a mile or so ahead of me on I-35. It was coming from a northbound vehicle, and the flashes alternated from short, intermittent bursts, to a steady blaze lasting a minute or more. The rising sun was well above the horizon, directly to my right, so the angle wasn't right for it to be a reflection off the rear windshield or mirrors. And it was red. From a mile away it was so intense and bright I seriously thought someone was flashing a laser my direction, and worried about being struck blind.
But the flashing continued randomly, and despite the brightness, the light wasn't focused like a laser would be. So I slowly began gaining on the mystery vehicle. I caught up to it around the San Marcos outlet malls, and talk about an anticlimax. Turned out to be a dark gray Nissan Xterra. The blazing light was indeed reflected sunlight, bouncing off the curved reflective surface surrounding the actual taillights--not the lights themselves--but still encased in the red plastic taillight casing. I was dumbfounded at how something that has no relation to the lights themselves other than proximity could produce such a startling reflection at such a bizarre angle.
It was a really cool effect, though.
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I think flash and dazzle are more likely to spontaneously occur under the Texas January sun than, say, the Vermont one.
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