Experts warn of fake solar eclipse glasses

Experts are warning the public not to be blinded by scams involving fake solar eclipse glasses. They say you can permanently injure your eyes -- the American Astronomical Society has now put out a warning, we spoke to them via Skype.

“They’re selling filters that might or might not be safe but they haven’t been properly tested,” said Rick Fienberg with the American Astronomical Society.

Michael McConville with the Seminole State College Buehler Planetarium says it’s important to look for the ISO logo and number on the glasses.

"The most important thing to look for when trying to make sure that  your glasses are good and safe for viewing is to look for an ISO number, ISO is International Standards Organization, that number indicates that they’ve gone through the proper testing to  block visible, ultraviolet and infared light,” McConville said.


However, even some of the counterfeit glasses are marked with a fake ISO stamp , so make sure they’re from a reputable dealer.

"What we recommend is going to a company that sells telescopes and binoculars,” McConville said.

Experts say when you have the glasses on it should be completely dark and the only thing you should be able to see is the sun, but Dr.  Ben Larson at Advanced Eye Care says he doesn’t recommend looking at the eclipse at all even with the glasses.

“I'm not going to recommend looking at it with any type of filter or glasses an indirect way of looking at I would say would be okay,” Larson said.

Larson showed photos of what can happen to your retina when its exposed to too much infared and ultra-violet radiation.

“You have no pain receptors so you won’t feel it -- it's free radical damage so it happens pretty quick in a a matter of a few seconds and it could be permanent,” Larson said.

WHERE TO FIND GLASSES (American Astronomical Society list)