Watch CBS News

Solar Eclipse Glasses Hard To Find In Pittsburgh, Alternatives Available

Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There's been a run on these solar eclipse glasses, which are essential for viewing Monday's solar eclipse.

"These are like gold at this point. They are very hard to find. They are pretty much sold out everywhere," Ralph Crewe, program development coordinator at the Carnegie Science Center told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Friday.

"We're sold out of them here at the Science Center as well."

Crewe says the Science Center has sold thousands of these glasses, and this weekend the demand has surged.

"Every day hundreds and hundreds of people are trying to find more of them."

The local stores can't help.

The Walmart super center in Robinson sold out a week ago, as did many others.

Amazon shows glasses available, at triple the price, says WikiBuy, but delivery dates for those glasses are well into September, too late for Monday's eclipse.

Crewe says there's another possibility you probably haven't thought of -- welding goggles.

"Welding goggles can work. They have to be rated 12 or higher. I'm not a welder so you'll want to double check. They need to be very, very, very dark so you can't see through them at all except to see something as bright as the sun," adds Crewe.

Remember -- sun glasses won't work, and eye damage for you, and especially your children, can be severe.

Finding solar eclipse glasses that allow you to look at the sun without damaging your eyes has become next to impossible in Pittsburgh.

But the good news is that there are some alternatives, like a pin hole viewer that anyone can make in about five minutes.

Take any cereal box, put a white piece of paper at the bottom, on the top using aluminum foil create a pinhole for the sun at one end, look in the other end, to see an image of the eclipse.

And some local libraries do have these glasses.

The Sewickley Public Library, for example, will hand out 75 glasses beginning at 12:30 on Monday, and other libraries will have glasses to share during the eclipse, as will the Carnegie Science Center.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.