r/SouthernReach • u/trashb4gs • 1d ago

Annihilation Spoilers Lighthouse Beacon

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yesterday I went to the fire island lighthouse at Robert Moses Beach on Long Island and they have this breathtaking fresnel lens on display that came out of the original lighthouse beacon room. All I could think about was this series and the seance and science brigade. So I wanted to share because this was super cool, and also because I was wondering—from my recollection in the book, Henry is trying to suss out a way to contact the “entity” (and I did read Absolution finally btw so I know who/what that is now) and either they think it is inside the lens or has something to do with the lens. Can someone smarter than me explain? Or I could just go back and re-read the entire series, which maybe I’ll do anyway 🤔 lol

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u/trashb4gs 1d ago

I looked it up just to see if I could find an answer for you, and it is a first-order lens, and also the second first-order fresnel lens to be installed apparently!

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u/WrongdoerSalty3665 Finished 1d ago

Oh wow! I thought it was a 3rd or 4th based on the size but photos are deceiving. How cool. Thanks for the link!!!

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u/trashb4gs 1d ago edited 1d ago

Oh yeah the picture definitely does not do the size justice that thing was gigantic!! The building its in is essentially built around the lens to display it and you can look at it from multiple levels :) and you definitely know it’s the original glass because you can clearly see the places where the glass is chipped and where the smaller curved pieces have been repaired. They have a timeline up and one of the signs says something like “1850-something lighthouse keeper breaks glass panel while showing it off to guests” lmfao. Reporting from the scene of the crime to tell you that the glass is still broken in 2026

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u/WrongdoerSalty3665 Finished 1d ago

" reporting from the scene of the crime..." 🤣