Disclaimer: I can't science so this is all wrong. I just had the idea and wanted to attempt it.

The speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s.

Our camera takes pictures at 500,000 frames per second.

The idea was to place the--rather massive camera--so that its view covered a 5 km long, dark corridor. Secondly, we positioned a laser that was aimed down this hallway, and the light it gave off was meant to be recorded as it moved through the darkness and lit up the area. At the first frame, light would've traveled approximately 600 m already, so only a few of the frames would be necessary to review.

To power such a beast and to be able to store the enormous amount of data, we had several supercomputers ready for processing and a whole power plant dedicated to this single, perhaps greatest experiment in recent human history. People were watching all over the world in support of this extremely expensive scientific endeavor. The results were no doubt going to incredible nonetheless and for those still alive when people first landed on the moon, this was re-living that experience.

"Ten!"

We were ready. The final security checks had been made and everything was confirmed as still in working order.

"Nine!"

If it were to fail now then there would a great loss for all. Even though our training said to never doubt at a moment like this, we couldn't help but consider the stakes.

"Eight!"

We held our breaths, leaned over our coffee tables and flickering dashboards.

"Seven!"

Soon the machine would go off and create a loud bang sound.

"Six!"

The camera would only run until it had captured 1,000 frames, which was 990 frames too many but our computers aren't fast enough to stop the process.

"Five!"

While none of us could hear the countdown through our noise-cancelling headphones, we instead looked to our monitors in anticipation.

"Four!"

The final three numbers flashed on the main screen for the whole room to see.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

Collectively, we must've decreased the oxygen saturation in the room in one big gasp.

Before we knew, it was over. For just a thousandth of a second, we attempted to capture photons moving. The thing is, cameras have sensors in them. These sensors create the image whenever light hits it. Because the camera was so far away to able to cover a 5 km distance, it was also too far away to capture the light. By the time the light had reached the camera, the laser had already hit the other side.

All 1000 images, except the first ten, were of the same red beam crossing a black corridor.