The good news is that there will be more of these displays over the next few years. The photos with this article were from an autumn 1997 display which I witnessed, thanks to a phone call from Bill Hathaway who spotted it first it from Suttons Bay. Thanks again Bill. The display that night had at least two peaks that filled the sky with light. The cause of these displays was a mystery for a long time.
Some folks still believe they are the result of sunlight reflecting off the polar ice cap.
I can think of at least one reason why that can't happen. The auroral displays are caused by the interaction of the sun and earth, specifically the solar wind of charges particles and the earth's magnetic field. The intensity of the solar wind is highly variable in space as well as time. Huge explosions in the sun's photosphere near sunspots called solar flares spew out charged particles, mostly electrons and protons, that enhance the solar wind. It takes about two days for the solar particles to reach the earth's distance.