Construction of a Large UFO

IR Camcorder shot of Large UFO suspended from cable.

The large UFO should mainly be air, so it is light enough to hang in the air.

The frame is a 2 ft dia. carboard cylinder 2.5 ft high with a 8 ft dia. PVC pipe ring suspended around it by picture handing wire. For easy storage, we cut the 25ft long PVC pipe into 5 sections and used PVC connectors to press fit the pieces back together for easy assembly and disassembly. Black 1" binder clips (office store) are used to clip the plastic skin at the PVC pipe. The cardboard cylinder is the hardest item to find. We used a concrete mold tube, which my friend Matt got from a construction site. Leave plenty of time to track down this item.

For the top half, 5 wires hold the PVC pipe suspended in the air. 5 more wires hold the PVC pipe from the bottom. These wires can be attached with small screw eyes in each of the cardboard cylinder and on the PVC. The wire can be tensioned to create a bicycle tire/rim effect of tensioning.

The skin is Black plastic cut into a flat "C" shape and stretched tight around the shell. When the "C" shape is pulled around the top half cone of the UFO, it will fit tight. You will need 2 of these. One for the top and one for the bottom half of the UFO saucer.

Without skin

With skin on and chasing Xmas tree light strung around top, middle, and bottom ring.

Parts list

2 ft. dia cardboard cylinder, 2.5 ft. high

25 ft. PVC pipe, thin walled so it bends well, cut into 5ft sections.

5 PVC straight union connectors

Assorted sizes of screw eyes and washers

Picture hanger wire

2'4" long 1"x4" wood for center holding at top of UFO

1 Package of 10' x 25' of black plastic for skin

Large package of 1" binder clips

1 string of variable speed chasing Xmas lights (stores sell Xmas lights in October)

When hanging this UFO in the yard, please take SAFETY into consideration. We roped off the area, so visitors could not walk underneath the UFO. Just in case!!

Alan Wells' version of my UFO Alan Wells' Instructions

Send your project questions to annaliseolsen@earthlink.net

Chris's F/X Displays