A couple of years ago I had a coworker ask me if I had ever seen the Milky Way, after he had finally seen it for the first time. He must have been maybe 25 at t

A couple of years ago I had a coworker ask me if I had ever seen the Milky Way, after he had finally seen it for the first time. He must have been maybe 25 at the time. I was taken aback by the question, and felt sad for him that he had never experienced this awesome sight. It's never too late I guess, but this made me wonder what proportion of people had never had this opportunity. I've read stories of people calling 911 to report strange lights in the clear skies when it was visible; some of those are likely apocryphal but I'm sure it happens.