16
Aug
How to Make Unknown Lights in the Night Sky Illusion
Unknown Lights, as they are known, make quite a creepy illusion. As they look up, your visitors will see bizarre glowing lights moving up and down softly in the night sky apparently without any means of support. The effect is simple but eye-catching. To create the effect, you’ll need some Light Sticks, 16” black balloons, helium and light weight fishing line.
Light Sticks are generally believed to be light-weight, but in front of the weak lifting power of helium each gram of weight makes a difference. Typically, one 16” balloon filled with helium will lift in the air one of the small Light Sticks. However, to lift one of the bigger ones, you will need a balloon with a double capacity of a 16” balloon or two 16” balloons joined together.
The helium for the balloons is available in disposable tanks or you can just have your balloons at some party shop. Start out with filling a black 16” balloon with helium and tie it off. Strongly tie one end of the light-weight fishing line to the balloon. Leave roughly 12 feet of line from the balloon and tie a Light Stick to the fishing line. The right distance between them will keep the light from the Light Stick from reflecting off the exterior of the balloon and revealing the secret.
Prior of launching the balloons snap the Light Stick and shake it well in order to activate it. Next, let out the line letting the balloon along with its cargo to elevate to the sky. When it reached the desired height, cut the line and tie it off to something capable of holding the balloons.
As you have probably guessed, this will only work at night, if possible with little or no moonlight showing. Wind could be a serious problem, as even a light breeze will blow the balloons away and down below, stopping them from raising straight up. As Cyalume sticks are available in various colors and intensities, you can combine them to produce an outstanding Halloween effect.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 at 5:13 am and is filed under Halloween Craft Ideas. Follow the comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or leave a trackback.
