A balloon-carried light effect is a

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

carried by a

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

, which can be fixed with a rope to the ground or free-flying. They are commonly misidentified as "

Unidentified Flying Object An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

s" by members of public.

Uses

Balloon-carried light effects can be used without safety concerns at events with a lot of people, because unlike

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

they do not require the use of flammable substances. The brightness is much lower, when non-dangerous light sources such as lightsticks or battery-powered lamps are used. Balloon-carried light effects cannot replace fireworks, but supplement them, because of their long lighting time (if lightsticks or battery powered lamps are used) and because of their inherent safety. To realise a balloon-carried light effect, one or more balloons are used, capable of carrying a lightstick or a small battery powered lamp. Further it is possible to insert one or two small lightsticks into a transparent balloon. It is also possible for larger balloon-carried light effects to use tethered balloons, which also can contain an

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

cable power supply: these 'artificial moons' may be used for

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. It can provide functional area lighting for travel-ways, parking, entrances, work areas, and sporting venues to enable visibility adequate for safe task performance, ornament ...

ing.

Open-air concert use

Balloon-carried light effects are sometimes used on open-air concerts and similar events. For film and event use, balloons are offered as suspended air-filled or tethered floating helium-filled. The latter for outdoors uses a 2-meter diameter balloon and 4 1000 Watt halogen tungsten lights inside, rising up about 10 m and withstanding only calm winds. Other uses included fixed or pole balloons, spread like an umbrella, the upper half reflective coated, the lower half semi-opaque, light construction sites on highways, or accident sites in case of emergency.

References

Balloons {{fluiddynamics-stub