INDIANAPOLIS — As the April 8 total eclipse gets closer, more and more people are looking to buy glasses to view the event.
The American Astronomical Society issued a warning this week that says some sellers are making misleading claims about their products.
“They're trying to make a fast buck off this celestial event,” said Rick Fienberg, a project manager with solar eclipse task force at the American Astronomical Society. “They're saying things like 'our glasses are approved by NASA' but NASA doesn't approve glasses. They're misrepresenting them or they're making them in China and representing that they're from American manufacturers.”
You can find deals on eclipse glasses on social media, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and other websites.
The glasses need to comply with the International Organization for Standardization Requirement ISO 12312-2.
However, some sellers are faking this information, which concerns the American Astronomical Society.
“You can actually suffer retinal injury,” said Fienberg. “You may end up with temporary blind spots or permanent blindness. This is not good. You want to protect your eyes."
The best way to protect yourself is to buy glasses through a list of vendors on the AAS website, which assures you the glasses have been tested and meet all the requirements.
"We don't want anyone to get hurt, so that's why we maintain this list of vendors whose products we know for sure are safe,” said Fienberg.
If you already bought glasses, AAS says you should try them and on and you should not be able to see anything except for the sun or a very bright light.
Everything else should be really dim if they’re working correctly.
When you put them on, "you shouldn't be able to see anything...except the sun itself," the organizations says.
"If you can see lights of more ordinary brightness through your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer, and you're not sure the product came from a reputable vendor, it's no good," AAS said in a statement.
Legitimate glasses cost around $2 or $3, but the price will likely go up as the event gets closer, so you can't even use a higher price as a red flag.
If you bought what you think are bogus glasses, you can contact the seller and ask for a refund.
WRTV Investigates checked with the Better Business Bureau and the Indiana Attorney General’s office and they said they have not received any complaints about bogus glasses.
You can file a complaint with the BBB here and Attorney General here.
