A strange light formation in the sky created panic on Tuesday among the residents in Eloy, Arizona, who thought a meteorite is going to crash over the city. Some social media users also posted comments saying they thought they are being visited by aliens. It later turned out to be a world record attempt by a group of 46 pyrotechnic skydivers who jumped out of two airplanes and flew in an elaborate heads-down formation with remote-activated fireworks strapped to their feet.
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The skydivers were falling from 16,000 feet in the air and reached speeds of 200 miles an hour (322 kmph).
"Your senses are dimmed because of the darkness and all you're seeing is the lights and the pyrotechnics so when you get out and you're flying your body to the formation, you're literally diving into fire," skydiver Sara Curtis, one of the participants, said.
They were taking part in an event organised by Max Pyro 2.0.
The fireball generated by the jump generated a lot of buzz on social media.
"Just freaking awesome! So much better than watching fireworks! There's a thought for NY's 2025," commented one user on Instagram.
"This is all kinds of awesome! I'm imagining someone looking up and seeing this, clueless about whys going on," said another. "You know it's epic when people think y'all were UFOs," a third Instagram user said.
"We are not aliens," the skydivers told Inside Edition.
The organisers told ABC17 that the team broke the "vertical Night Record".
In the team, 42 were skydivers and four videographers who had gathered in Arizona from various countries. Nearly a third of the participants were women and many were either national or world champion divers.
After the successful skydive, the participants agreed it was a dangerous formation.
"You have multiple airplanes, you have less vision, which is night time, you have additional equipment, and then you have equipment that burns, so you have the pyro itself, so all these complexities," skydiver Konstantin Petrijcuk told Inside Edition.
They practiced many times during the day before attempting the world record.
Max Pyro 2.0 said its divers are hoping to do another record-breaking dive in a few years.
