Orange Village Mayor Judson Kline issued an apology to residents on Wednesday who used solar eclipse glasses provided by the village during Monday's total solar eclipse.
The glasses, which were purchased from a NASA-approved vendor, did not work, Kline said.
"We ordered them from a vendor that we got through our school system," Kline said. "We contacted them to find out where they obtained their solar eclipse glasses from, and we reached out to the same vendor to purchase them for the village and we purchased them based on the fact that they were the ISO number that was recommended and NASA-approved."
Kline said the village purchased 1,500 glasses for residents and found out they did not work as intended when he sat down himself to enjoy the eclipse, and everything was pitch black.
He then started receiving texts and calls from residents saying the same thing. However, the schools' glasses did function as intended.
"I went out to watch the eclipse, put my lawn chair in the front yard and was all set to sit down and enjoy it, and lo and behold, the glasses didn't do what they were supposed to do," Kline said.
Because of the malfunction with the glasses, Kline said he quickly created a pinhole camera out of a shopping bag so he could catch a glimpse at the eclipse before totality.
Kline said the village has been reaching out to the company it purchased the glasses from for an explanation, but has yet to hear back.
"We're looking to them to do something about it," Kline said. "If nothing else, getting our money back for it because they didn't work."
Orange Village residents were understanding of the situation despite their disappointment and hard work preparing for the historic event, Kline said.
"They're appreciative of the fact that I was being forthcoming with it and not trying to in any way not share all the information that I had, and, unfortunately, it didn't work out the way we had hoped," Kline said.
Kine said he and the village are going to continue reaching out to the company for some form of restitution.
"It's not like we can get a raincheck and have another eclipse," Kline said.
