Sadly, we had posted the Blacksburg VA sighting on 10/24/2014 from truthofyahweh.org was one of the witnesses for a new moon, but we have found after researching online an eye-witness account revealing that sighting was actually from muslims who used binoculars initially before sighting it with the naked eye. I consider any use of optical aid that takes human vision above what it is possible for a human with good vision to be an unfair advantage probably not available in ancient times for sighting the New Moon. Glasses and such that bring vision to 20/20 are acceptable to me, but anything like binoculars or telescopes used at any time in the sighting process should not be permitted. This means, for me, I do not count the Virginia sighting since they first utilized binoculars. Not only that, but I am surprised a muslim’s sighting was posted on a site for believers in our faith.
However, brother Larry (who I know personally from the Feast in person) who is from Mississippi said 3 witnesses did sight the new moon on 10/24/2014 from Mississippi – so that still establishes the New Moon as having been 10/24/2014. 2 Lessons learned through this – 1) don’t trust technology and visibility maps – go OUT and look yourself, and 2) new moon reporting sites need to be more rigorous in their acceptance of witnesses and provide more information to firmly establish legitimate sightings from trust sources without any use of binoculars whatsoever.