Drone shows are meant to be the future of celebration as they’re a cleaner alternative to fireworks that don’t terrorize every animal within a five-mile radius. That’s not quite true when these shows go wrong and thousands of drones start falling from the sky, however, as was the case in China earlier this month.
A drone and firework show in China went disastrously wrong when around 2,000 of the quad-copters went haywire and started falling from the sky, reports Australia’s ABC News. The show in the mainland city of Quanzhou was hosted by artist Cai Guo-Qiang and was supposed to show off the history, culture and women of the region.
To do this, Guo-Qiang paired a fleet of thousands of flying drones with a firework display and lights, which attracted huge crowds to watch. Things got off to a promising start, but went off the rails when the wind started picking up.
Footage shared online of the show appears to show hundreds of the drones crashing into one another and falling to the ground. The falling drones splashed into lakes in the area and left craters in the dust when they hit the ground.
Observers can also be seen running for shelter to avoid being hit by one of the drones, which could weigh as much as 2.5 pounds. Thankfully, nobody was hit by a falling drone and no injuries have so far been reported as a result of the technical issue.
Theories have now begun swirling around what could have caused the mass outage for the drones. ABC suggests that the failure could have been as a result of high winds that drained the batteries of the drones quicker than expected. Some people online also believe that something called an “anti-drone gun” could have been involved.
According to the outlet, some drones used in the show weren’t previously reported to the authorities or registered with air traffic control in the area. As such, police saw the drones as “rogue aircraft” and it’s been suggested that jamming guns were deployed. The electronic weapons can stop a drone in its tracks at a range of about one mile.
Neither of these theories have been confirmed by authorities in China as the reason for the failure of the drone show, but an investigation into the show has been launched. It’s because of failures like this that there are strict regulations around drone shows here in the U.S., with even organizers required to create a buffer zone between the craft and spectators and limits put on how high drones involved in shows can fly.
These rules haven’t stopped rogue drone operators in New Jersey from terrorizing local residents in recent weeks with their mysterious flybys.
