Kohoutek fell so short of its hype in 1973 that when one astronomer threw a comet party he served flat, booze-free drinks: fake punch, he said, for a fake comet. Halley raised such expectations that the hordes of amateur observers dusting off their 'scopes in the winter of '86 expected something whizzing across the sky, not the static smudge they actually saw (or thought they saw). But comet groupies are as optimistic as serial blind-daters, no matter how often their expectations crash and burn. The next one, they are sure, will be a heavenly vision.
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