Set fire to a lampshade, watch it fade away into the sky

[Paul_HDLover]

Saw the strangest thing I have seen in a while on Sunday.

I was down at the local DeepSea world, in the car park getting the buggy out of the car. There was 4 people (2 ladies and 2 men) in the car park all laughing and giggling. They were holding what looked like an oversize lampshade maybe a metre tall and 40cm wide. It had what looked liked a black metal circle at the bottom of it.

Next minute someone got out a lighter and set fire to this black ring. Clearly it was extremely flamible. Then they let go of the thing and it started hovering about above the car park for about 30 seconds before taking off into the sky. The people then went into Deepsea world not even watching where their flying instrument was going.

I stood and watched it for about 10 minutes. Initially it looked like it was going to land on someones head in the car park, but once it started building up momentum it really did fly high into the distance then out of eye shot.

2 things:

1) What is it?
2) How dangerous was that? There were kids in the car park and this thing was full of fire. Not to mention the fact that there is a nearby airport and this thing was flying real high.

I was ver confused. Strangest thing I have seen for a while.

[Jammyb]

Either:
A: They were on drugs
B: You were on drugs
C: I'm on drugs
D: All of the above

[Paul_HDLover]

Originally Posted by Jammyb

Either:
A: They were on drugs
B: You were on drugs
C: I'm on drugs
D: All of the above

I wasnt on drugs. I was looking after my niece. You arent on drugs as I can assure you this really did happen. That just leaves they were on drugs, but there were well to do people, not junkies. I honestly was gobsmacked. I thought it was some kind of crazy sport that i dont know about.

[CFC1]

Originally Posted by Paul_HDLover

I thought it was some kind of crazy sport that i dont know about.

What? .... Like underwater darts?

[Paul_HDLover]

Originally Posted by CFC1

What? .... Like underwater darts?

indeed

[ChrisBravoTown]

Like this?

Chinese lanterns. These are set off at festivals and are cool, when you're on drugs obviously.

[Paul_HDLover]

someone must find out what went on here. Email all your friends.

Mars bar to the winner.

[Paul_HDLover]

Originally Posted by ChrisBravoTown

Like this?

These are set off at festivals and are cool, when you're on drugs obviously.

Yes this is it. Damn hippies.

[partyweb]

Originally Posted by Paul_HDLover

someone must find out what went on here. Email all your friends.

Mars bar to the winner.

Paul, it can be even more weird if you never saw it being launched. Read about my sighting here on AVF: Model Hot Air Balloons Thread.

Basically it seams to be a growing trend now using McDonalds straws, birthday candles, and dry cleaning bags.

Now where's my Mars bar.

[Paul_HDLover]

Originally Posted by partyweb

Paul, it can be even more weird if you never saw it being launched. Read about my sighting here on AVF: Model Hot Air Balloons Thread.

Basically it seams to be a growing trend now using McDonalds straws, birthday candles, and dry cleaning bags.

Now where's my Mars bar.

Man, is if flying a plane isnt hard enough. Already I have seaguls and airpockets to dodge. I never expected to have to watch out for flying lanterns, McDonalds bags and straws.

PS - Im not really a pilot, I just like to tell the ladies that

[partyweb]

As you can see from my thread, for a long moment, I believed we were being visited by aliens

and only a longer google search proved me wrong.

Makes you wonder what percentage of UFO sightings are down to these, seeing as the tradition of floating/flying Chinese lanterns have been around longer than UFO's.

[Paul_HDLover]

Yeah probably quite a lot. Mostly UFOs sightings are over land and can change shape, travel fast, or appear to be standing still and are untraceable to high tech radars. Also a lot seem to disappear rather than fly away into the night. A lot of sightings could therefore be attributed to these lanterns.

I suppose though they are UFO's. I mean, if you dont know what they are and they are flying then technically there are UFO's. Too many people associate UFO's with Aliens. A UFO could easily be a McDonalds bag propelled with paraffin.

[Bizman]

It would be interesting to see what would happen if one of these flaming things came down near someone filling their car up with petrol.

[u8myufo]

Not us m8, we finished with candle propultion years ago. We got more techy things now.

[partyweb]

Originally Posted by u8myufo

Not us m8, we finished with candle propultion years ago. We got more techy things now.

Go on give us some links or some pics then.