UFO arrives on demand...

[mrnoodle]

re: HM's weather balloon theory.

the accomplice would have to release the balloon far enough away so that it could reach altitude before being identified by the news crew. he'd have to have an almost psychic knowledge of meteorology and what the wind was doing at different altitudes over the filming location. In theory, getting a balloon to perform on cue is possible, but so difficult as to render it as implausible as space invaders.

[mulder]Maybe he's part of a government program to gauge public reaction to UFOs, preparing us for the big unveiling of classified Area 51 schwag. Maybe he came across a crashed (government-created) UFO and figured out how to get the thing running again.[/mulder]

[scully]Maybe Golden Palace Casino is drumming up publicity for something. Maybe he's an illusionist in the David Blaine mold, doing his performance art thing.[/scully]

Maybe he's a prophet, maybe he's a nut, maybe he's a fraud. But isn't it even a little cool to see someone call up a UFO on command? He'd have been burned at the stake a couple centuries ago.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

the accomplice would have to release the balloon far enough away so that it could reach altitude before being identified by the news crew.

It depends on what the guy's doing to keep the attention of the crew on himself (or the wrong bit of sky) until he can find the balloon in the sky (ie, misdirection).

he'd have to have an almost psychic knowledge of meteorology and what the wind was doing at different altitudes over the filming location.

Not really. Obviously, the more he knows about the wind speed and direction that day, the more impressive his show can be, but it's not necessary. He just makes the UFO appear; he doesn't predict what maneuvers it will make.

Maybe he's a prophet, maybe he's a nut, maybe he's a fraud. But isn't it even a little cool to see someone call up a UFO on command?

Sure. I love magic shows, especially Penn and Teller.

[plthijinx]

he can easily get the wind speed and direction for that day/time check it out...[meteorology lesson]the FT and the numers after (ie 3000, 6000 etc) are the altitudes
then is the location (psx=palacious hou=houston hobby etc)
9900 = winds calm +16 temp in deg. celcius
for psx at 18,000ft for example winds: 160 @ 8 knots temp -19

******** FD Winds Aloft Forecast ********
DATA BASED ON 021200Z
VALID 021800Z FOR USE 1700-2100Z. TEMPS NEG ABV 24000 ALTITUDE
FT 3000 6000 9000 12000 18000 24000 30000 34000 39000
PSX 9900 9900+16 0909+10 9900+07 1608-08 1316-19 102333 103142 112954
T01 9900 1810+15 0908+11 9900+07 2705-07 1410-19 122033 112642 122954
HOU 9900 9900+16 0706+10 0605+07 2106-07 1211-19 112333 112843 122254
CLL 9900 0905+17 0709+11 0605+05 9900-07 1309-18 101533 112342 122254
LCH 9900 9900+16 0509+11 0306+07 3107-07 9900-18 121832 132242 132154
SHV 0805 0805+17 0809+10 0415+06 0310-06 0708-17 130532 180643 990054
LIT 0606 0713+17 1012+10 0513+06 0110-05 3210-17 341533 351744 291053[/meteorology lesson]

in short, that dude would have to be incredibly lucky to find a wind shear. can he summon ufo's? who knows, his demonstration is pretty cool.

[wolf]

I have this one, but the biology of Pernese dragons is different.

My favorite journal is the Journal of Polymorphous Perversity (which is not about what you might assume from the title).

[Happy Monkey]

I think I found it here. Fun book.

[Happy Monkey]

Yeah, that's it.