Right then, as everybody shivered, a breakout of light, as brilliant as diamond, struck out of the shadow and lit up the dark, night-like sky. Again, the crowd burst into cheers and applause, more as an ode to the brightness, to the light.
At 15:35 (2135 GMT), everybody who witnessed the marvelous scene seemed to have felt something new about life and the world. Shelios expedition's Director Miquel Serra told Xinhua that he and his team have traveled around the world watching total solar eclipses over the past decade and it brings a brand-new sensation each time.
"To witness such a magnificent view of the solar eclipse in Easter Island's mysterious ambience, the feeling is beyond words," he said.
His feeling is echoed by many others on the island: You can only understand what it is like when you see it with your own eyes and feel it with all your personal senses.
