Ross Investigators PC, Inc.

By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger

The bad news is that the most viewed eclipse in history resulted in permanent eye injuries for people who purchased counterfeit or defective eclipse glasses on Amazon. The good news? If your eyes were fried by last month's eclipse, there is now a class action personal injury lawsuit pending and one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs is the Hannon Law Firm, LLC which is conveniently located on Downing Street in Denver, Colorado. 

The class action lawsuit against Amazon was filed on August 29th by a Charleston, South Carolina couple who sustained eye injuries after viewing the August 21st eclipse. The compensation is an undisclosed amount that will exceed $75,000 according to the Class Action Complaint on file.  "Corey Payne and Kayla Harris said they experienced headaches and vision impairment after using the glasses to watch the US eclipse on 21 August," reported the BBC last week.

Amazon issued a recall on August 10th, however the South Carolina couple says they were not notified in time and ended up viewing the eclipse through defective glasses. The couple experienced headaches, watery eyes and dizziness in the hours following the eclipse and reported experiencing distorted vision during the days that followed. 

According to PBS digital science producer, Nsikan Akpan, Amazon had been offering to reimburse customers who purchased defective glasses before the eclipse however Amazon refused to list names of the vendors carrying the faulty products.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided information to the public on how to obtain ISO and ISO 12312-2 compliant glasses. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) also issued a list specifying credible eclipse glasses retailers vendors along with credible sources for camera lens solar filters. 

According to ABC, "Paper Optics" was one of the manufacturers responsible for selling products that resulted in eye damage however, the name of the manufacturer is not specified on the Class Action Complaint and Amazon currently carries a number of American Paper Optics product listings with no mention of the lawsuit. An Amazon sellers forum, however, is discussing the lawsuit. 

On their website, American Paper Optics claims to be ISO certified and tested. The company is also first on the AAS list of safe manufacturers. A safety notification on American Paper Optics' website however illustrates the visual characteristics that distinguish real from counterfeit eclipse glasses. 

"American Paper Optics" is a Tennessee based company who, according to TopClassActionsDOTcom "projected it would make and sell 100 million pairs of eclipse glasses, about 10 million of which were sold to Amazon. 

"Amazon attempted to recall these Amazon eclipse glasses in an email announcement sent out Aug. 19, two days before the eclipse. The email stated that the supplier of Amazon eclipse glasses could not confirm that they were produced by a recommended manufacturer. Amazon recommended that people not use the glasses to view the eclipse.

The plaintiffs say this recall announcement was “tragically too little, too late.” Despite the allegedly inadequate email announcement, plaintiffs and their proposed Class Members still used these Amazon eclipse glasses to view the eclipse, exposing themselves to eye damage.

Payne says he bought a three-pack of eclipse glasses from Amazon on Aug. 1. He and Harris, his fiancée, say they never got notice of the Amazon eclipse glasses recall before they used these glasses to watch the eclipse."

"The safety of solar eclipse glasses was a major concern of astronomy experts in the weeks leading up to the much-watched event," according to MarketWatch, "Third-party online vendors, such as Amazon and eBay, EBAY...  monitored their sites for counterfeit solar eclipse glasses, removing posts and refunding customers for glasses that were not compliant with safety standards, both companies told MarketWatch," when interviewed for the story. 

​The United States district court document excerpt is attached below. The complete document was obtained through Geekwire and you can click through to view that document in full. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the case.

A screenshot of American Paper Optics' warning is also included along with a link to their website. It is still unclear whether the glasses the plaintiffs purchased through Amazon were counterfeit or defective, however we expect to be learning more shortly.

By Susanna Speier
​Denver Private Investigator Blogger 

The last time an eclipse crossed the United States via ocean to ocean trajectory was 1918. It's happening again on August 21st and although Colorado misses the zone of "totality" where a total eclipse can be witnessed, many Coloradans --including many Colorado private investigators-- are throwing their drones and surveillance cameras in the back of their SUVs and hitting the Northbound I25 to take advantage of this rare opportunity. 

In Glendo, Wyoming where I'm heading on Monday, August 21st the partial eclipse is expected to take place between 10:24 a.m. and 1:12 p.m. and the total eclipse (depending on where you are in Wyoming) runs from 11:45 a.m. to 11:47 a.m. 
 
As careful as private investigators are on the job, the importance of safety, even for those viewing the partial eclipse from Denver, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Trinidad or Pueblo, cannot be underemphasized. Rod Pyle's SpaceDOTcom story about eye damage caused by viewing "partial solar eclipses with faulty equipment as a child" is a poignant one. "Trust me," he cautions, "it's not worth it. And the worst part? There are no pain receptors in your eyes, so you won't know you are damaging them until a few days later when it's too late."

And for those of you who have to miss the total or partial eclipse due to work assignments? Check out Dave Mosher's Business Insider article about how to follow "NASA TV's feed." Mosher explains that "Facebook will also promote the space agency's 4K-resolution, 360-degree Facebook Live broadcast from Charleston, South Carolina. This livestream will be fully interactive, so you can look around and feel like you're actually on the ground in the path of totality. (Though nothing can beat the real experience.)"  Of course if you really want the larger picture, you can also see how eclipses look like from space by going here and seeing how Discover Magazine compiled space images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter, however as Mosher says, nothing will beat the real thing.

The United States Postal Service's heat sensitive eclipse stamps are the first postage stamp made with heat activated ink. Chromatic Technologies Inc., a 54 person team based in Colorado Springs, provided the special thermochromic ink for the 60 million solar-eclipse stamps printed this summer" according to The Denver Post. The Denver Post also wrote a useful article (via a Boulder Daily Camera correspondent from Ft Collins) on pet safety tips during an eclipse. 

If you tweet your eclipse photos to us at @MileHiPI we'll be sure to share them with the community. You can also share your eclipse images on our Facebook page.

By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger 

My cat, Kee-hap, would make a great spy. She's adept in picking up communication subtleties and can hear cans and doors opening from anywhere inside the house. She sneaks up stealthily on birds, bugs and sometimes wild rabbits. Her red and orange tiger stripes will blend beautifully with the fall leaves as early autumn rolls through Colorado. 

Quick to endear herself to strangers Kee-hap has joined me for visits with friends in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C. She behaves well on busses and makes friends easily. She is a great car companion and has joined me on road trips through Arizona, Utah, California and New Mexico as well as in and around Colorado. In fact, Kee-hap has visited Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Castle Rock. She has yet to experience Boulder, Fort Collins, Steamboat Springs and Aspen but invites are always welcome! 

It is unlikely that the private investigator and security field will be a viable option for a cat needing to pass the state required juris prudence exam, however, the idea of a feline private investigator is not a new one. In fact there was a government sanctioned program to turn cats into spies in the 1960s.

This summer marked the 70th anniversary of Harry S Truman signing the National Security Act of 1947, which paved the way for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The agency's plan to turn cats into spies, among other things, was revisited by media for the anniversary and according to Time Magazine's Olivia B. Waxman, the CIA began the "Acoustic Kitty" experiment of trying to trick cats up with espionage gear in the 1960s. The plan was to place to place them in locations where they would gather information. 

According to "Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda. The Office of Research and Development figured out a way to implant a three-quarter-inch transmitter in the loose, fleshy part at the back of a cat's neck, and a microphone in the cat's ear canal. A very thin, almost invisible wire connected the two devices. The size of the transmitter meant the device could only hold very small batteries and only had space to record a limited amount of audio. (One attempted solution was to give a cat a transmitter in its rib cage and an antenna in its tail, the ex-CIA agent Victor Marchetti claimed in The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology.)

The experiment fell short when agents got hungry the would wander away from the designated location. As a big part of the appeal was the fact that the would not have to be trained to stay focused once they knew which sounds to identify, the tendency to wander off site proved to be a deal breaker there was no way of communicating the goals and requirements of the mission to them.

You can read more about the experience on Time.com and read the primary documents on the study, which were declassified in 2001, here.  And if you are looking for a feline team member, Kee-hap is available for assignments, however, she can only be considered for assignments in those states that do not not require PIs be licensed. 

By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger 

The annual Professional Private Investigators of Colorado (PPIAC) conference will be held in Westminster, Colorado this year from September 14th to September 16th. Owner and lead investigator of Richard Brooks Investigations, LLC will lead one of the workshops. In addition to being the Mission Chapter Director of the Mississippi Association for Christian Private Investigators.

Richard is also a member of other international and state PI associations. Most notably the Council of (PI) Association Leaders, the National Association of Legal Investigators, the National Council of Investigation and Security Services and the International Association of Legal Investigators, the National Council of Investigation and Security Services and the International Intelligence Network.

He is former active duty military and civilian law enforcement and a certified forensic interviewer who has been designated and testified as an expert in general police procedures, use of force and forensic interviewing. He has even appeared in a network reality show as a PI.
 
The conference will be hosted at the Denver Westminster Marriott and participants can choose between two, three and single day participant packages. Participant fees range from $150 to $375.

For a full schedule of events including Ethics with Kitty Haily and Cultural Considerations to Russian Investigations with Anastasiya Bolton (who is also a 9 news reporter) visit their website for a full schedule.