Little girl accidentally soars through the air hanging from a kite (she's fine)

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/31/little-girl-accidentally-soars.html

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Whoa.
 

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I’m surprised Beschizza hasn’t already referenced The Wasp Factory.

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God damn, that triggers my anxiety. My kids aren’t that small anymore, but I could see my youngest getting herself into that position when she was that age, and I don’t like how it makes me feel watching that.

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I was thinking more of Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love. The stuff nightmares are made of. I suppose, deep down, that’s the reason I let myself get to 130kg. No kite is gonna carry me off.

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Very, very, very glad for the “she’s fine” note, because yeah–my heart jumped. That had to be terrifying for all involved.

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  1. This looks too fantastic to be real.

  2. But it also looks to be real judging from the crowd reactions.

  3. Unless someone put a doll at the end.

  4. Holy shit, how terrifying.

  5. I went to a kite festival, it was neat!

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Yeah it almost looks like its staged but people’s reactions are too genuine to believe otherwise, that is terrifying and i’m really surprised the girl held on that long being flung about.

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This is a horrible year make it end please

PLEASE.

Fucks sake that was terrifying

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We need Captain Disillusion to look at this one.

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That is seriously gut clenching! Check out the last few seconds again. Just after she is caught, you can see the detached tail sweep overhead. The only thing keeping her aloft was the tension between the kite and the wind catching the tail fabric. Think what would have happened if the tail came loose while she was still airborne. The loose flapping fabric would have done little to slow her descent. Could have been so much worse.

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Turn the sound off and the crowd reactions are consistent with a really impressive kite.
It really looks like CGI to me

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Well maybe… and I’d also be inclined to think they stuck a doll on it which would be much lighter.

Honestly my nerves would be relieved if I was fooled.

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jeeeeezzzzussss!
that is terrifying.

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I was thinking that might have been because the flight crew grounded it quickly and detached it. That would be very quick, though so you’re probably right.

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The normal reaction to a really impressive kit is NOT to point your camera at the tail. The crowd reaction is consistent with what’s being reported.

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After watching it a few more times in morbid fascination, I think you’re right. Looking at 1:05 or so, you can tell the kite is dropping, presumably because they’re reeling it in with all their might. If it took a nosedive a few seconds after that, then someone cut loose the tail, that seems a little more like what we’re seeing. It’s coming in at a shallow angle from upper left corner, instead of drooping more vertically like you’d see if the wind was dying. I think. Maybe. I’m gonna go with that, because it makes the kite crew more responsive and the little girl a tiny bit safer. I’d rather see her saved by fast, competent action than random chance.

Now ask me about the Zapruder film. “Back… And to the left. Back… And to the left.”

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My youngest too! Totally could see that happening when she was little. Luckily she’s 6’3 now, so unlikely to get blown into the sky anymore.

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She’s fine, you say.

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Agreed. And here’s the rest of it. I doubt that the crowd were huddled around a fake ‘passenger’.

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