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Ransom Riggs
Mysterious skywriting portends inevitable doom?
by Ransom Riggs - March 13, 2007 - 9:00 AM

That’s what the conspiracy theorists would have us think. But the real meaning of yesterday’s mysterious sky-message, which appeared over West L.A. at about 1:30pm, is apparently a secret. (For those of you who can’t quite make the already-blurring-just-forty-seconds-after-it-appeared message, it reads “Get ready to get real LA.”) Five minutes later, it was gone with the wind.
sky.jpg
Lacking solid evidence that the message portends apocalypse, here are some fun facts about skywriting:

  • This is actually a variation on skywriting known as skytyping, which explains why it looks a bit like the product of a dot matrix printer.
  • Five planes flying in formation created the message, and the oil-and-exhaust mix that makes the smoke is controlled by one trigger on one of the planes.
  • The message is about five miles wide and 1,500 feet high.
  • A typical skywritten message costs about $1,000, and lasts between 10-15 minutes, depending on weather conditions.
  • The first skywriting was done in the 1930s, and were advertisements for Pepsi-Cola.

If any of you have information about our doom, as portended in the sky, please let us know.

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Comments (8)

  1. My bet – a promo for some upcoming TV show/Movie. Because we all need one more “reality show”, or movie about “real life”. Wouldn’t it be boring if they really did a reality show, the daily commute, the work at a job, dinner, sleep. No created crisis, no forced problems, just real life.

    posted by Leslie on 3-13-2007 at 9:13 am

  2. Get ready to get Real Low Prices LA.

    Yeah I could see that…

    I’m reminded of the Simpson’s episode when Lisa finds the ‘Angel’.

    posted by Donnie on 3-13-2007 at 10:09 am

  3. The writing must be on the wall to be a harbinger of doom. Since this was in the sky, I would say that LA is safe for now. (I would check the graffiti, just to be safe.)

    posted by n2y2 on 3-13-2007 at 10:42 am

  4. Gonna guess it has something to do with this: “Former LA Weekly Publisher Jay Levin Launches Real Talk Media Group with Message ‘Get Ready to Get Real LA’”. You can google that for the full “story”

    posted by e2 on 3-13-2007 at 11:40 am

  5. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

    posted by melanie on 3-13-2007 at 3:07 pm

  6. was this pic taken in Venice, by any chance? from an alley?

    posted by dave on 3-13-2007 at 6:43 pm

  7. It probably has something to do with Jack Bauer. I bet it does.

    Probably.

    posted by Drew on 3-13-2007 at 7:51 pm

  8. The end is NEAR!!!

    Not really.

    We still have almost 6 years.

    posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 3-20-2007 at 7:59 pm

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