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Colorful, Mystery ‘Drone Show’ Hovers Over Downtown Fort Worth

January 23,2020


See full NBC DFW article here.

Lucky onlookers spotted something in the night sky Tuesday over downtown Fort Worth that appears to be a preview of an official demonstration to come – a coordinated drone light show.

“We didn’t know what was going on,” said Rick McNeely, who shot a video of the colorful display and posted it to YouTube.

McNeely and a date were taking in a movie at the Coyote Drive-In when he said he became distracted by a series of flashing lights between the Drive-In, just north of Downtown, and the city skyline.

“You see about 50 lights flashing together. It’s not like one in a helicopter or something. It’s all of them, but you can’t see where the lights are attached. You just see the lights coming at you.”

McNeely pulled out his cellphone and recorded the show that followed. It lasted for more than five minutes and featured the drones morphing and moving in sync as they formed the shapes of a spinning pinwheel, a vintage car, a set of margarita glasses and many more.

“The video does it justice, but it was nothing like being there,” McNeely said.

Among the forms that the drones took was the word “Sinclair.”

There is a grand opening and ribbon cutting set for Thursday afternoon at The Sinclair, a new luxury hotel in a renovated, art-deco building on Main Street in Fort Worth’s Sundance Square.

A representative at the hotel confirmed early Thursday that a drone show is going to be part of the celebration, and noted that the show had been tested at some point this week, but could not confirm when the official demonstration will take place.

NBC 5 reached out to both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Fort Worth Police Department for information regarding the display. Neither organization has yet to respond.


Location Mentioned: The Sinclair, Autograph Collection