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Eclipse chasers land in Killeen at 'Eclipse over Texas' event

Eclipse lovers from France to Canada flocked to Killeen to enjoy four minutes and 16 seconds of totality.

KILLEEN, Texas — A once-in-a-lifetime experience brought together hundreds in Killeen. Some people traveled from as far away as France, Canada and even Africa.

All were there for four minutes 16 seconds of totality, but it wasn't a guarantee the clouds would cooperate.

Before totality, we met Leanna Fregia.

"We live north of Houston and I'm in the North Houston Astronomy Club. I'll give them a plug," said Fregia.

You could say the stars aligned for her to end up in Killeen at the Central Texas College "Eclipse Over Texas" event.

"We had someone else who had a set up somewhere else, but that was canceled because of weather. And then my brother had chosen Killeen. Then he canceled and we stayed," Fregia explained.

6 News Anchor Lindsay Liepman asked Fregia whether or not she had high hopes for the eclipse due to the cloud cover over Central Texas. 

"I do. It's Texas. Five minutes till, we'll know what we've got and until then, it's all up for grabs," said Fregia.

Looking on the bright side were eclipse chasers you can't miss.

"We've traveled from Salt Lake City, Utah, Canada and Phoenix," said Everen Brown. "It's looking good here today and I'm looking forward to some totality," said fellow eclipse chaser Thomas Pryor of Canada.

"Everything will be lined up and just click away," said Matthew Kallio as he set up a telescopic camera. "And I'll try to enjoy it too," he said.

Brown says going to the planetarium as a kid sparked his interest. "I didn't see one until 1991. My nephew, who is here, happened to be there. He was much shorter then," said Brown.

"This will be my 13th total solar eclipse. I've done three annular eclipses and I've actually seen eclipses on all 7 continents. There's only a handful of people that can say that," said Brown.

Our Canadian friend also points out, "They like to call this the great American eclipse, but it's actually the Great North American eclipse because it does begin in Mexico, come through the United States and exit up through the provinces in Canada. I thought Killeen, Texas would be the best," said Pryor.

Turns out, the "sun guys" and Leanna Fregia were right; Killeen had a crystal clear view of totality.

"I think it was great. It was so dark. There were so many clouds and then it just opened up. We were really able to see it. We were able to see Vader's Ring. You were able to see the diamond as it came in. It was great, it was really great," said Fregia.

Planetarium Director Kathryn Winston feels like it was a win.

"It was great. It couldn't have been more perfect. The sun came out. The clouds cleared just in time. I couldn't be more happy than with what we had," said Winston.

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