Strange flying object

[mikeyc1]

On my way across the playa this year I saw what looked like a model aircraft flying silently around during the night.It was fully lit up with glow stuff and changed direction rapidly,think it was around the area of oppulent temple,does anyone know what it was and who created this gorgeous flying object? the thing that got me was that it did not seem to make any noise,hope some other folk were lucky enough to have seen this sight,cant wait to get back to the playa next year......

[Intubater69]

I was sitting in my camp, round abouts 3am contemplating yet another brewski when I looked up and Lo!! I saw 2 stars falling towards me. Now, I'm not chicken little or something, but I was sure it wasn't tiny little sky-divers. Closer and closer 1 got to me, and I thought shit! That sucka's gonna hit my camp. sure as shit (and when I shit I'm sure of it) it landed besides my tent. WTF! It was a little parachutey thingy that had a small fire thingy suspended in it, presumably to give it lift. Thankfully it didnt hit my new 500$ tent. A neighbor came over to make sure we werent being invaded by militant barbies from their death camp. I'm just thankful I didnt yell incoming and bellyflop upon it to save my fellow burners cuz I'm sure I woulda burned my nips

[sun4all]

was likely an RC Kite. RC Kites are radio controlled aircraft that can be lit up and they do amazing acrobatic stunts. They are most common in Singapore where open land is limited. Folks take them to parks and have these huge RC kite flying contests at night and during the day. They good one's are not cheap, but they are a LOT of fun. Here are some links

www.wildrc.com (in California)

www.goflykite (in Singapore, the original RC kite folks)

[Coyote88]

hey incubator that sounds like it was a signal flare some one shot into the air for kicks i saw a bunch of those over the course of the week
i always thought ..dont they realize the thing is still burning when it hits the ground?!..... glad you were ok

[Intubater69]

Yeah Coyote, it was about 3' high and the bottom opening was about 1' across with a wire cross member to hold it open, and in the center of that was like a wad of paper? that was all burnt up and glowing. It was the strangest thing, just hanging out there listen to the jams, looking up I saw it and was kinda mesmerized. Up until the last minute when I realized it was gonna land at our camp it seemed so far away, probably cuz of its size. I woulda been bummed if it hit the tent but most of it was under a shelter. LOL, only at Burning Man

[Toolmaker]

I brought an r/c blimp to stage ufo sightings. It had green n blue el wire "rings" and few cannibalized led blinky sticks of multicolor from walgreens powered with button cells. It was "blacked out" so you likely will have only seen the el lighting and led blinky stuff. Saw what looked like the skydivers I missed last year and heard the typical "ufo sighted" crowd reaction. I kept my mouth shut show they would have a war story to tell defaultia.

Lemme know if you saw my contribution.. it wound up getting blown away from me after some high wind and I never did find it after it got out of radio range. That could explain the "fast" departure you saw. I know I am not the only person to do this kinda crap out there so it could have been anyone else. It is a fun trick to do. Next year I might try one of those r/c kites someone was talking about. I hear they do better in the wind than the cheap blimp.

[grapes]

OP...I think what you saw were RC aircrafts outfitted with el-wire. saw 'em too, definitely one of the coolest things I saw this year, totally made me stop in my tracks for a few minutes to figure out wtf i was seeing. and when I saw them there were two flying together, almost looked like they were dancing in the sky...

and Intubater...it sounds like you were attacked by a Fire Lantern. I was in north Thailand a couple years ago during a huge festival called Loi Krathong where the locals make a wish (or write it on the lantern) and light thousands of them and they float up into the sky. one of the most amazing, memorable sights i'll probably ever see. i could've sworn i saw a couple going up into the night sky at BM.



of course, its not quite as awe-inspiring the next day when the lanterns are clogging the river and the sewers for miles around