HOW TO FAKE A UFO

Materials

A long stick

Tinfoil

Small recycled items: like tiny boxes, toothpaste lids, bottle caps, coffee- or jam-jar lids, etc.

Nylon thread (white) or clear fishing twine

Hot-glue gun

An iPad or phone camera

An adult (Lucas says that’s so no one gets silly with the stick)

Instructions

1. Glue the lids and recycled parts together until you get a very small UFO shape.

2. Cover with tinfoil.

3. Now, tie the twine or nylon onto the stick.

4. Glue or tie the other end to your tinfoil creation.

5. Next comes the optical illusion. Find a wide space, like your school field or a reserve, and get someone to hold up the stick.

6. Take a photo of the creation against the sky and include someone pointing up at it. (Be careful not to photograph the stick.) Experiment with heights: for example, does the kid holding the stick nee d to stand on the school deck or move further away? Does the person in the photo need to kneel? Remember your spacecraft must be TINY so it looks far away compared to your friend’s hand.

Have fun!