Sky Lanterns Myths – Questions and answers

First of all, we appreciate everyone’s personal opinion and we take every critic very seriously. After reading and analysing all comments about us (Night Sky Lanterns®) and sky lanterns during the last two weeks, we are confident that the majority of people are responsible and clearly understand the difference between premium quality sky lanterns and poorly made sky lanterns. To everyone who has written to us thoughtful and sensible questions, we own them a satisfactory response asap to clarify their doubts. Regarding those people who have condemned and stigmatised all sky lanterns, they are not fair and true representation of the whole population.

However, we want to appeal to all Civil Servants and those working in public bodies to remind them that by vocation, they have the moral duty to be impartial, coherent, responsible, cohesive and accountable for any declaration and action they take while representing their professional division. This also applies to Fire-fighters, Police Officers, Doctors, Nurses, Vets, Teachers, Counsellors, MPs, The Right Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, Local Authorities and public corporations such as the BBC, Channel 4 and all other organisations involved to inform and shaping public behaviour.

This comes as a consequence of inappropriate and inaccurate comments made by people with authoritarian influence which empowered some individuals to be abusive in sending us indecent comments toward our business. At a time when all Officers are occupied in patrolling our streets during lockdown restrictions, it is now inevitable that the Police have to investigate those individuals who sent us menaces and threats.

No. However, mainly some Welsh Councils have introduced a restriction on public owned land, which limits the release of sky lanterns only on their land. Any responsible adult in UK can release a sky lantern from private grounds or lands. While we believe that this restriction was introduced inappropriately, it is overbearing that Councils across the country take in account the independent study conducted by ADAS on the behalf of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Welsh Government (Sky Lanterns and helium balloons: an assessment of impacts on livestock and the environment). Moreover, Councils need to be the first point of information also for people who intend to use sky lanterns and ensure that the Code of Practice is implemented appropriately. Finally, in order to protect members of the public and genuine businesses, Councils have to make sure that those who sell sky lanterns and any product on the market, are not in violation of current legislations. Asbestos was banned in UK in the 80s, but an overwhelming number of sky lanterns sold mainly on third-party platforms are assembled with asbestos string, which is not only highly toxic but also detrimental due to the low quality and performance of the products as such. This does not imply that a quick fix would be an indiscriminate ban on all sky lanterns.
For more information please read
Letter to Prime Minister - Sky Lanterns (Prohibition) Bill 2017-19 and An outright ban on sky lanterns would be disproportionate, says DEFRA
“Analogy” - It would be inconceivable to ban all animal farms but it is important that animal welfare is respected to safeguard animals and consumers.

No. As per definition, littering is the intentional action of an individual to throw, drop, deposit any litter in places which the law applies. Sky lanterns are released or set free in to the sky and they are not intended to be used as the above mentioned actions.
“Analogy” Fireworks are releases in to the sky and this is not deemed to be classified as littering

No. Sky lanterns can be assembled using different components/materials. Premium sky lanterns are equipped with innovative materials such as, fireproof copy paper 17 gm2 or above, bamboo ring, cloth wick/fuel cell and fiberglass string. Other low quality sky lanterns are assembled using rise paper 14 gm2 or below, bamboo ring, wax wick or compress cardboard wick and metal wire or asbestos string.
“Analogy” If a toaster is not made with appropriate components it can burn down yours and your neighbour’s houses.

No. Experts from the Trading Standard Institute (Code of Practice) state that “When used as intended in appropriate conditions and in small numbers, sky lanterns do not constitute a high risk. With a little care and consideration they can be enjoyed safely”. Premium quality sky lanterns are equipped with the latest innovative components to minimise the risk of fire. Primarily, the cloth/fabric wick installed on premium sky lanterns is made of fabric which crumbles in air before the lantern start descending. However, anything that involves a live flame requires a sensible level of precaution when it is used. Please read safety instructions and guidelines before using sky lanterns. On the contrary, some sky lanterns are assembled with wax wick/fuel cell which once lit releases drops of melted wax which can burn if the wax drops on flammable materials or on people standing underneath. In addition, when the wax wick has burned all combustible, it leaves a block of fiberglass/charcoal attached to the lantern which can remain very hot when the lantern touches ground. Similarly, sky lanterns assemble with asbestos string can break when the lanterns is half way up and liberates the wick to drop to the ground while still lit. We are aware of an isolated incident where a recycling plant in the north of England was set on fire by a sky lantern recorded on a CCTV. We do not know the details of the police investigation, but we presume that this accident was caused by one of those poorly made sky lanterns or caused by a pyromaniac who used a sky lantern as a weapon.
“Analogy” If a disposable BBQ is used improperly on a wood bench, it can burn not only the bench but also it can potentially cause major consequences to its surrounding.

No. Sky lanterns build with premium quality materials cannot kill animals. Premium sky lanterns are made with very delicate materials which are not harmful to animals or people. We cannot comment regarding photos of horses with dreadful burns on their body, but often animals are sent to slaughterhouses or exported to overseas countries to be turned into meat steaks. In regards to the only photo in the world with a bird tangled in the metal wire of a sky lantern, a rational observation would prompt the fact that a sky lantern is not a hunting bullet and the owl could not die on the spot. Indeed the owl would have fight to try to untangle itself and dismantle the bamboo ring in to pieces or a least break the delicate paper. We believe that this is a staged animal used to touch deep in people’s sensibility. We recently noticed that, some organisations are using another staged animal, where a dog has been forced to wear a lantern with the metal wire in its mouth. Once again, with a rational observation, sky lanterns are not opened on the top and it would have looked more realistic if they would have placed the sky lantern on the dog like a hat. Regarding the fire which occurred in January 2020 at the German Zoo, we do not know why sprinkles were not installed on the site or why they did not work. However, after looking at the photos of the Officer holding the sky lanterns, we can confirm that the lanterns involved in this terrible accident were those poorly made sky lanterns assemble with metal wire and wax wick/fuel cell.

“Analogy” The danger to kill people or an animal is very high if a car is not driven responsibly. Also Just watch few episodes of The incredible Dr Paul and you can see how many animals can get hurt on farms

No. Premium sky lanterns are assembled with delicate materials which will disintegrate in a reasonable short time or they can be easily picked up and disposed accordingly. When the Marine Conservation Society conducted a study for the 10 most polluting products found in the sea and coastline, sky lanterns were not amongst them. However, sky lanterns made with metal wire can take much longer to rust and if these lanterns land on farmed land, the metal wire can damage farmer’s machineries when they cultivate the land. On the contrary, if sky lanterns are assembled with asbestos string, they may apparently disintegrate in a reasonable short time but the toxic element will remain in the environment for decades or hundreds of years. In addition, sky lanterns have been taken in consideration from the environmental Charity Energoclub, in an attempt to reduce the emissions of small particles (PM10 and PM2.5) released from fireworks and bonfires widely used during seasonal holiday and patronal events.
 “Analogy” Horse/animal dropping often seen on our streets does not disappear immediately and it can cause accidents if bikers try to avoid it at the last moment. Also, the difference between diesel and electric engines are well-known to everyone, evermore if the engine is powered with charcoal

No. Led Lights do not produce any heat, which is the basic physics principle to enable the lantern to lift and fly in the sky. When the wick /fuel cell is lit, it starts to produce heat and increase the internal temperature of the lanterns. Therefore, the air inside the lantern expands and becomes lighter than the external temperature which makes the lantern to take off.
“Analogy” Hot air balloon will never take-off without the heat produced by the gas and it cannot be powered with LED. Also, if water in used to power a gas cooker it will never cook your meal.

No. Sky lanterns cannot be tethered to the ground with a fishing line or a cotton string. When the lantern starts flying, the additional weight put on the lantern will bring the lantern to the ground while it still alights. If you try to retrieve the lanterns, it will fall to the ground much faster and get tangled with obstacles while it is still alight.
“Analogy” Fireworks are not meant to be tethered to the ground to retrieve the debris. Once ignited, you can only run away and hope for the best.

Our campaign in support of NHS stuff was organised in good faith from our side and with genuine sentiment to help them. Having said that, we never received an official message from the NHS, nor we had the possibility to confirm if the NHS blue photo/post was official. We initially believed to be an authorised post and we immediately decided to withdrawn our campaign to support the NHS. As soon as we saw the blue post on the social media, we thought that it would be appropriate to withdraw the association of our campaign with the NHS until further investigation were conducted  to establish the source of the post. We have not yet received a confirmation from the NHS but after an initial valuation, we believe that the post was generated by an individual who wanted to boycott our campaign. If this is confirmed, we will bring this individual to justice.

No. We have inside information to be sure that many of our customers are farmers. We also know that farmers who have purchased sky lanterns from us know that our premium sky lanterns fully comply with the Code of Practice. In addition, anyone who has used our sky lanterns can judge by themselves about the quality and integrity of our products. When used as intended, the performance of our premium sky lanterns is 10 out 10 successes. However, it is comprehensible that some farmers are fed up of finding metal wires scattered over their land, in particular when large-scale events take place. On the contrary, every time we organise large scale events, farmers can be reassured that we not only pay considerable amount of money to rent the land for few days, but we also compensate other landowners who authorise us to walk on their property to collect the lanterns used at our event. Sky lanterns can only fly for reasonably short distance from the point of launch and the landing place can be easily located with the use of drones. This enables us not only to monitor the flying path of the lanterns but also to ensure that all lanterns perform as expected. In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority is informed in advance to clear the air space for the designated area. We would like to take this opportunity to invite all Farmers across the UK to get involved and contact us to offer their availability to organise one of our public events on their land for mutual benefit. In addition, this would be a great opportunity to inform everyone about the importance of using only sky lanterns which comply with the Code of Practice and demonstrate to other organisers how to responsibly arrange large scale sky lanterns events.

Please read our reply to Mr Sam Durham Chief National Farmers Union

Yes. We notice that people responded very positively to our campaign. We are very sorry if the NHS could not benefit from it due to few individuals who decided to boycott our campaign in support of our much appreciated NHS staff. We must say that this was never intended to be a large scale event/campaign and certainly not during lockdown restrictions. But we are certain that any organisation not matter its size, would be very grateful for any additional Pound available to them. We are very proud of our customers for showing a sense of composure and we are grateful that they have not responded to provocation made by some individuals. Slugging other individuals is simply not in our style and we expect that our customer’s behaviour is a true and fair representation of our product; gentile, harmless and peaceful. We are pleased to see that they are sending us supportive messages and placing orders as a way of recognition. On the other hand, some people are used to write and say all sort of nonsense in order to get a basket of likes, but this does not always pay off.

No. At the contrary, our customers find a healing benefit when releasing responsibly sky lanterns to honour lost loved ones or to celebrate important recurrences to remember forever. Anyone who has attended our event can confirm this.

No. Most of the reporters try to assemble all pieces of the puzzle and inform people in an independent manner, although some reporters can misinterpret some information. Most of them conduct their research according to their moral duty.

Click on the links for more info about our response to The Independent and BBC

Nobody can disapprove the fact that when sky lanterns are used as intended and responsibly, the spectacle is just magical.