Chinese Sky Lantern
• $3.00 - $9.00
• SkyLantern.com
I first saw these floating up in the sky about a year ago and they blew my mind. Silent and luminous, they float upward on the breeze driven only by a small flame in their belly. I saw one after another lift off into the sky and they never seemed to stop. They are more heavenly than earthly.
What are they? Chinese Sky Lanterns are light paper balloons that rise on hot air and then fall when the heat element goes out. Traditional in some Asian cultures, you can read more about them here, but they seem to have caught on in this country in the past few years and we've now got a lot of sources for them, as well as Eco versions that help deal with the fact that they can be messy when they land. The site listed above is the cheapest site I found, but I also found them at Wishlantern.com in what looks like a more premium version, as well as at Amazon.com of course.
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Eco versions? You mean ones that can't start crop or forest fires? Yes they look lovely in theory but, please, too much serious damage has already been caused by them to encourage their use.
http://www.farmersguardian.com/public-warned-over-threat-of-chinese-lanterns/50678.article
My daughter had a Rapunzel/Twisted (Disney) themed party, and we'd considered lighting a few of these in the evening. Then I thought: Hm, what happens when these things fall to the ground? I read your post, Wills, thanks, the same worries I had! The exhortation to "exercise caution" is pretty meaningless, isn't it? What does that mean? Does that mean follow the lanterns until they land and pick up the remains? Does it mean only light them on a rainy night in a national forest known to have no wildlife? Hm. Well, we exercised caution by not lighting them. Gorgeous as they are.
@Wills Was just coming to say the same thing. We've had them in the UK for years, and now police, farmers and firefighters put out continual warnings not to use them because of the damage they cause. I once did a news report on a farmer who had several of his cows die in absolute agony after being burnt and/or trapped in a fire caused by falling lanterns. They're beautiful, but not worth the danger.
Always wondered about that -- I hoped they blew out before landing, but I gather not. Too bad...
(Similar problem with released helium balloons -- they cause all kinds of problems when animals (mostly sea life) eat them thinking they are something more digestible.)