(Circa 1900)
Imagination is the highest kite that one can fly. And kites
have surely ignited the imaginations of many, leading them to falsely believe
that they have witnessed the unearthly- a UFO.
In fact the lowly and unconsidered kite may account for a
hugely substantial number of such sightings throughout the world - and for well
over a century!
A review of the hidden history of kites -and an
investigation into today’s secret world of high technology kite play- is
insightful. It shows that from the Great Airship Mysteries of long ago to
present-day flying saucers and black triangles- kites have played a role in the
phenomenon until now not fully appreciated. Kites must now rank with balloons,
remote-control aerial toys and CGI in their ability to deceive even the most
discerning when it comes to things UFO.
OF GRAHAM BELL, MAN KITES & MYSTERY
SHIPS
The early ingenuity of kite design and performance rivals
those of the 21st century. From the early 1800’s to the early turn
of the 1900’s, gliding and soaring was a global obsession. Their fascination
with flight is hard for us to fathom today given that we live in a jet age. It
was from this yearning that the fabled “Great Airship Mysteries” of strange
flying contraptions was borne.
From Dr. Alexander Graham Bell to Marconi, many men of note
(as well as hundreds of “amateurs” across the country) had developed very
intense interest in “extreme” kites. They created and flew extraordinary,
confounding kite configurations that surely bewildered anyone at the time that
had the fortune to cast their eyes upon them.
Dr. Bell’s Kite (1901)
This perplexing, 12-sided, radial-winged, gigantic kite was
tethered aloft to great heights by the man who invented the telephone.
The French Like Their Kite
This kite craze was not relegated to the US alone. In the
late 1800’s and through the next two following decades, the French designed
light frames that were sent aloft that were breathtaking in their very
conception.
Pictured above is a kite demonstration in Biarritz, in the
South of France in 1904, with the seaside class delighting in such aerial art
spectacle.
Man Kites
This 1905 Biplane Glider Kite could carry a small sized
person above the earth for short distances, akin to early hang gliders.
A “Black Triangle” in 1900!
Baffled-cell construction allowed for ultra-rapid ascent.
“All-wing” and experimental triangular designs were of special interest from
very early on in the optimization of kite configurations.
ARE KITES A PARTIAL ANSWER TO THE
AIRSHIP MYSTERY?
As early as the 1880’s, pioneering inventor Laurence
Hargrave had perfected and flown dihedral and cellular kite configurations.
Some of these were of considerable size and went far-reaching into the skies
above. In 1900, even Marconi began building prototypes for transatlantic kite
gliders.
It is then easy to understand that this dizzying array of
amazing aerials confused those at that time in human history who may not have
known just exactly what it was that they were witnessing.
These contraptions were so high up -and so far away from
their range of everyday experience- that those who saw them projected onto them
what was within their imagination.
- The fact is that such early, fantastic kites and
aero-foils as depicted in this article were largely meant to be seen for
only the invited or privileged few- the learned, those of leisure and the
scientific community. In an age before TV or widespread photography, there
would be no frame-of-reference for those who saw these kites unbeknownst
and if they had never had previous exposure to such things (which at the
time was most all of America and Europe.)
- If such extraordinary aerial devices were seen high in
the skies above them without seeing the man holding the strings behind the
hill and out of their view, for instance, they may well have believed that
they were viewing a “Mystery Airship.”
- And if such kite configurations were seen from a very
far distance; or at certain deceptive perspectives or forced angles; or at
dusk or at night; or in extreme sun glare; or in fog or in haze (or in any
less-than-ideal viewing conditions) then even highly educated individuals
at that time would have not been faulted if they reported that they had
witnessed a “Mystery Airship.”
- And certainly not all such kites were able to be retrieved after their demonstration and field experimentation. These wonder kites did escape, as kites escape from us today. They came off of their tethers. They sometimes broke away from the grasp of their handlers. They then became airborne to points far and wide. And they surely would have been beheld as an “airship” by those below.
TODAYS HIGH TECH HOAXERS-THE UFO
KITE CABAL
Engineered kites, or “high tech kites” may represent the
truth behind far more sightings of flying saucers than the UFO community may
ever care to consider. Such advanced light sail forms are now equipped with
programmable LED lights, onboard computers and cutting-edge navigation and
control systems. They are often configured in ultra-large, novel shapes. They
can even appear to change shape, rapidly change color and disappear and
reappear instantly in another part of the sky as seen in the following videos:
High Tech Night Kite in Vancouver
Fools Many
Two years ago hundreds were duped by an aero-geek’s LED UFO
kite stunt. A confession was later obtained by a resourceful and inquiring
local TV reporter.
Kite Caper Causes UFO Stir in
Shanghai
$500 is what reporters say that it cost a hoaxer to build
his LED craft, which stunned residents of one of China’s largest cities.
Physically Impossible Flight Maneuvers
Made Possible with “Extreme Kites”
Beginning at 0:58 of this short film one can see
gravity-defying aerial movements that, if they were piloted craft, would break
bones. If such a craft were aloft a couple of hundred feet above the earth at
night and lit properly with LEDs, it would instantly wind up on YouTube and
millions would “believe.”
Exploring the underbelly of the internet will yield search
results to “kite clubs” with forums whose members advise one another on the
latest illusions, visual effects, technologies and techniques to fool the
unsuspecting. I suspect these sites are largely populated by enterprising
science students or young engineers. These pranksters, like their brethren geek
before, know the secret of the kite:
Kites
make us look up.
