I like your solar halo pics; they're pretty spectacular when they want to be, and surprisingly common. The emperor Constantine (the one who legalised Christianity) saw one as a young man, rushed off to the local temple of Apollo (as sun god), and for years afterwards minted vast quantities of coin declaring 'The Unconquerable Sun, Companion [of the Emperor]. Later, the Christians around him transmogrified it into a vision of the cross just before a vital battle.