"He read this document and then there was this moment of silence, " Maggiolo said.

CNN: Vito Maggiolo: 'I challenged the Chinese'

Then there was a silence and then suddenly there's this dazzling light that flashes at you from the base of the launch pad - and that's ignition.

BBC: World News TV

Then there was a silence, and I wondered whether I should make some trivial remark about the island or about holidays or some other almost equally trivial remark about the activities we had observed on the beach.

NEWYORKER: While the Women Are Sleeping