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Foul play suspected in China’s latest drone light show fail; see video

It’s raining drones in Zhengzhou. As the capital of China’s Henan province hosted a drone light show last weekend, a massive fail sent the machines tumbling out of the sky. The show organizer has since reported the incident to the local police, alleging interference by a competitor.

The freak event took place on October 1, at Wanda Plaza shopping mall in Zhengzhou High-tech Zone. Around 200 drones took to the skies to commemorate the mall’s anniversary with varied formations, but the show barely crossed the two-and-a-half-minute mark before the drones started descending uncontrollably toward the ground.

Videos captured by eye-witnesses show a drone bouncing off a car in a parking lot, with several others dropping directly into the spectator zone, causing people to panic – though some decided to grab onto the fallen machines as if they were souvenirs!

According to local drone technology reporter Kanzhaji, the organizer of the drone light show has reported the matter to the police, suspecting that a competitor in the same industry could have transmitted interference to overwhelm the navigation system of the drones.

Also read: Drone shows extent of massive oil spill damage on California beaches

In the meantime, the Wanda Plaza management maintains the incident caused no injuries nor damage to property.

Video shows drone light show fail in China

Another video that Kanzhaji obtained from a WeChat social media group shows the incident right from the beginning, from a different POV:

Drone light shows are the perfect intersection of art, science, technology, and, of course, marketing. We certainly cannot get enough of them!

Incidents like these are unsettling, and it’s worrisome that they seem to be on a rise in China.

In May 2020, more than a dozen drones came crashing down during a holiday performance in Chengdu. An investigation by the police revealed that the employees of a rival company had prompted the crash with drone jammers, miffed that their own bid to carry out the performance was rejected.

DroneDJ also reported about a failure that sent multiple drones plunging out of the sky, with spectators on boats below, in June 2021.

Read more: From sub-zero weather to threat of rains, Intel reveals Olympics drone light show challenges

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Avatar for Ishveena Singh Ishveena Singh

Ishveena Singh is a versatile journalist and writer with a passion for drones and location technologies. She has been named as one of the 50 Rising Stars of the geospatial industry for the year 2021 by Geospatial World magazine.