Click Fireworks to Enlarge

Skylighter Fireworks Tips May 21, 2008 -- Issue #101 IN THIS ISSUE: Learn to Make Cremora Fireballs for Your July 4th Display The Shocking Truth About UFO Sightings This Year! How You Can Stop Aliens and Snatch Probes in Your Area Visit Skylighter's Project Plans

I disremember who first told me about making fireballs outa coffee creamer. I'm thinking it was Pinky Pilkerton. Pinky is a debauched stage and proximate fireworks professional famous for keeping rock stars pyrotechnically satiated. Fantastically, Pinky is still in possession of all his digits, or at least he was last time I saw him.

Pinky told me about it. I then made the mistake of telling John Smith.

John calls me up about 8 one night, absolutely unintelligibly giggling his phone call to me.

Somewhere buried in the guffaws were words to the effect of...."blah, blah, hah, hah, hooo, hooo, hoooo, heeeyech yech yech... at least a 30 foot fireball... b'hwahhhh, hahh, hhah, hah... blah, blah, blah..."

"What!?" said I.

"With a Campbell's soup can!"

"What!?" said I.

"...plain ole Cremora," he babbled on.

"John, what in the HELL are you talking about?" I flustered.

"Harry, I just made a humongous fireball in my backyard, using a coupla tablespoons of 2FA and a jar of Cremora!" John gushed.

"John, calm down. Try to talk intelligibly.

How much is your bail? Are you in the County lockup or downtown?" wondering how far I would have to drive this night to get him out of the clink, and if I'd have wake up Doug Mawhorr at 3:30am to hand him yet another pyrotechnic miscreant. (Doug is a kind enough shark, and is silly enough to specialize in defending such people as friend John from the ravages of over enthused local law enforcement types who, in their zeal to stop the next terrorist often see homemade fireworks as WMDs. But neither he nor his partner have yet to pay me any commission or even buy me dinner despite that fact that I send him hordes of fireworks trouble makers every year. Hordes! Hell, these days I can't even get him to answer my emails!)

"Harry! I'm not in jail! It didn't even make much noise! You could barely hear it. We gotta do these in 5-gallon buckets for your Fourth of July show!"

Typical megalomaniacal fireworks nut. Always trying to find a way to build things bigger and badder.

I am more practical than John: "John, do you have any idea how much 5 gallons of one-dollar and eighty-nine cents a bottle Cremora will cost?"

Typically, he did: "$178.43! But it'll be worth it!"

Well, you know what? Both he and Pinky turned up at my place that July, with massive fireball contributions. If my memory beans are still working, it seems like we had a line of 8 or so 5-gallon fireballs that had the crowd sucking wind for 30 seconds.

Now, what follows is Ned Gorski's typically clear and thorough presentation of making fireballs from things you would otherwise feed to people and little lambs. I want to add a couple of things to it.

First, you can do some of your own research and come up with relatively affordable fuels for your own fireballs. Here's the tip: the higher the fat content, the better the fireball.

Second, just because these fireballs are made from foodstuffs does not mean they are benign. You can get hurt with them. Use caution.

Either use long slow fuse, or fire them electrically. Get a lot further away from them than you think you need to. Two reasons: when you're first starting out, you have no idea how large the fireball will be. The other reason is that the container can actually explode. Ned goes into the common causes of container explosion in his article. It follows, of course, that you should not use these until you have practiced and dialed them in. Be sure they are placed a long way away from any audience. Don't worry; they will wow your onlookers no matter where you put them.

Finally, check out the article below on what is behind the increase in UFO sightings this year and what you can do to stop the aliens from taking over. . We think we know why so many sightings. Don't let your town be left out. Make sure to have UFOS in your own hometown this summer. Jump on this right away, before they make it illegal!

CREMORA FIREBALLS

Ya know what's really aggravating? You put many hours of sweat and labor into producing a nice fireworks display, perhaps with some homemade aerial fireworks shells and fountains, and somewhere in the show you fire some of these simple and easy-to-make Cremora fireballs. And after the show, do you hear much praise for the meticulously constructed shells that you slaved over? No! All you hear, especially from the kids, is, "Wow, we loved those big, fiery things! Whaddaya call em? They were hot!"

(Photo and fireball by Noel Emge)

These fireballs are definitely crowd-pleasers. And they couldn't be easier to make and shoot. The Bluegrass Pyrotechnics Guild has made and shot literally hundreds of the 5 gallon size fireballs in the displays we have produced for the Pyrotechnics Guild International's (PGI) summer conventions over the years. One time we wanted to replicate an atomic bomb mushroom-cloud in a show that had a World War II segment. We fired 13, five-gallon fireballs which resulted in this smoke cloud after the fire went out.


In another show, we had a Wizard of Oz segment and wanted to have fireballs associated with "The Great Oz Has Spoken" soundtrack. Cremora fireballs provided just the right effect.

So, What is a Cremora Fireball?

In years past I've heard of accidents at grain silos or flour mills, where clouds of dust have been ignited by a spark resulting in a tragic explosion. A bag of flour is not a fire hazard, but mix it with air and it becomes a highly flammable mixture.

It takes fuel, oxygen and a heat-source to produce a fire. A Cremora fireball is simply a device which projects a powdered fuel up into the air, where it gets mixed with the atmosphere, is ignited by the propellant, which results in a large fireball as the fuel and air burn together.

At some time in years past, an enterprising soul decided to project some Cremora brand coffee-creamer powder up into the air using a black powder propellant, and the Cremora fireball was born. Even though Cremora brand creamer is next to impossible to find nowadays, and other substitutes are used, these fireball pots will forever be referred to as Cremora Pots, or just Cremoras.

The simplest of Cremoras can be made with just a metal can, some black powder, a 4" piece of Visco safety fuse, a disc cut out of a paper napkin, and some flammable powder.

How to Make a Simple Cremora Fireball Pot

For a large fireworks display, Cremoras made in 5 gallon plastic buckets produce an impressive fireball for everyone to see. I'll provide some details on these in a moment, but these fireballs are so large that everyone really needs to be at least 200 feet from them because of safety concerns.

In smaller, backyard type displays, small Cremora pots, made in 12, 15, or 28 ounce metal cans, like what soups and vegetables come in, can produce impressive, safe fireballs. Some folks use cans as large as #10 cans, or even the size of a large coffee can. Small plastic pails and cans work well as containers, too.

Whatever container you use, you want a smooth interior wall, without any lip that protrudes toward the inside at the top of it. You want the contents of the pot to be able to be smoothly propelled skywards.

Warning: Safe is a relative term. As with any fireworks device that propels flame into the air and has the potential to malfunction and send pieces of the container flying, it is always best to maintain safe distances from the device when it fires. Barricade the device with concrete blocks, or bury the pot in a hole in the ground. Nothing would take all the fun out of this faster than having someone get hurt, especially some innocent spectator.

For these small fireballs, I start with a clean, empty can, and punch a Visco-size hole in the side of the can, right near the bottom, with a sharp awl.


Note: It is best to proceed with all of the following procedures with the container in place in the location where the fireball will be shot. We want the flammable powder to stay fluffy, and this prevents the flammable powder from settling as it would if the pot was moved after assembly. If you build it in one place, then transport it to another (thereby settling and compacting the powder), instead of a fireball rolling up into the air, you are more likely to have an explosion of the can itself, possibly injuring yourself or bystanders with metal-can shrapnel. Building the device in its final location also prevents any possible static discharge between it and the ground which could occur if it was lifted up.

Now, I insert the Visco safety fuse through the hole in the base of the can, put the can on the ground, and pour the black powder (BP) lifting charge into the can. I make sure the BP is spread evenly around on the bottom of the container. Then I cover the BP with a round piece of thin tissue, cut from a paper napkin or from facial tissue.

This tissue barrier prevents the flammable Cremora-type powder, which is about to be added to the can, from settling in between the BP granules, which would slow the BP's burn rate. We want the BP to burn rapidly and develop enough pressure to quickly propel the flammable powder into the air.


Now, it's just a matter of gently pouring the Cremora-type flammable powder into the can, on top of the tissue-paper barrier, filling the can one-half to two-thirds full. If the powder you are using is clumped a bit, and is not completely free flowing, it is a good idea to sift it through a wire-mesh kitchen colander before pouring it into the can.


The Cremora is now ready to be fired. If it is not going to be fired immediately, cover the device with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent dew, rain, or humidity from affecting the contents.

You'll want to be a good 30-50 feet away from even one of these small fireballs when it ignites. You will feel the radiant heat from the fireball as it rises into the air. If you test-fire one of these during the daytime, you might see a giant smoke ring form as well.

Details, Details

As you are following along in this process, a few questions have probably now popped into your mind.

• How much and what type of black powder should I use? How does that vary from one size container to the next?
• What kind of Cremora-type flammable powder works best in these babies?
• How could I fire these electrically during a choreographed show?
• Could we add anything to the fireballs to make them more impressive? (We pyros are never happy to leave well-enough alone, are we?)

Black Powder Lift Charge

Commercial 2FA black powder is traditionally used as the lift powder in Cremora fireballs. A good place to start when determining how much of it to use is 0.1 ounce per square inch of container bottom. This results in the following amounts:

3-inch diameter container	0.7 ounce 2FA
4-inch diameter container	1.25 ounces 2FA
5-inch diameter container	2 ounces of 2FA
6-inch diameter container	2.8 ounces of 2FA
7-inch diameter container	3.8 ounces of 2FA
8-inch diameter container	5 ounces of 2FA
9-inch diameter container	6.4 ounces of 2FA
10-inch diameter container	8 ounces of 2FA

These amounts will result in a layer of 2FA on the bottom of the container that covers it completely and is about 1/4" thick. This is a good starting point, and can be adjusted to taste. The correct amount of lift powder will result in a great fireball, but the container will remain in place and intact.

The first time I ever made 5 gallon Cremora fireballs (10" diameter bucket bottom), I used a pound of commercial 2FA lift powder in each one. "Yeah, that looks about right," I said to myself and to those around me. We ended up with great fireballs, and pieces of bucket strewn far and wide. "Hmmm, maybe we can back off on that lift powder a bit."

In Skylighter Fireworks Tips, #96, we learned that it is possible to make our own, very functional, red-gum/alcohol granulated black powder using Skylighter Airfloat Charcoal, and nothing more than a couple of screens.

This homemade black powder works wonderfully in these Cremora fireball pots. I actually like the slightly softer lift that this homemade BP provides. When using it, I like to use between 1.25 and 1.5 times as much as I would of the commercial 2FA amounts listed in the above table.

Different Kinds of Cremora-Type Flammable Powder

When this subject is brought up, quite a few variables are encountered.

There are many different varieties of non-dairy coffee creamer available. As I said above, I was unable to locate the actual Cremora brand. I tested Coffee Mate, Kroger brand creamer, and the cheaper store brands from Wal-Mart and Biggs.

A friend of mine was able to purchase a couple of pallets of out-of-date Vitamite non-dairy powdered milk replacer, and we've been making very nice fireballs with it for a couple of years. Vitamite is available from Diehl Food Ingredients, www.diehlinc.com, but it costs $180 for a 50 pound bag.


One member, who has attended the PGI conventions in years past, has brought 50 lb. bags of floor-sweepings from a factory that makes powdered bases for gravy mixes and soups, and has made this powder available to attendees. This powder quite often has a fat-content of 50-60%, and has produced some of the brightest and hottest fireballs I've personally ever seen. Very impressive!

I have often used Land-O-Lakes Lamb-Milk-Replacer, and have been very pleased with the results. This product is now up to about $50 for a 25 lb. bag, and is often available at farm-feed supply stores.

Another pyro has used a product called Glufil which is powdered walnut shells. This dust is considerably less expensive, at $22 for a 50 lb bag, and is available at www.rogergeorge.com. I've seen photos of fireballs made with it and they looked very nice. The fellow who has used it reported that it did not perform quite as well as Cremora, though.

I've heard of folks using fine sawdust, or even wheat flour. One well-respected pyro recently told me that he uses finely powdered Gilsonite, which is an asphalt-like product that is available from Skylighter. I had to mill the Gilsonite that I had on hand to a fine dust in my coffee grinder, because it was originally in the form of larger crystals. Just remember that whatever you use, it must be a very fine, flammable powder.

Well, all of the above information and options certainly calls for some experimenting, doesn't it? So, I got my lovely assistants, my wife and granddaughter, outside on a nice spring evening after dark, and I made up some small Cremora fireball pots in a 28 oz. can, using many of the flammable powders listed above. At the last moment, I decided to include pots made with Skylighter airfloat charcoal, powdered confectioner's sugar, and my homemade spruce/pine airfloat charcoal.

Then I fired them one at a time, and we graded each one based on how impressive the fireballs were.

The results were as follows, with the resulting fireballs rated on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not-so-good, and 5 being "man-that-curled-the-hairs-on-my-arms":

Small 28-Ounce Fireball Scores

Wheat flour	2
Kroger brand creamer	2.5
Coffee Mate creamer	2.5
Fine pine sawdust	3
Powdered sugar	3.5	(Interesting purplish flame)
Wal-Mart brand creamer	3.5
Lamb milk replacer	4
Vitamite	4.5	(Lower fireball than others)
Spruce/pine airfloat	5	(Lots of hanging sparks)
Skylighter airfloat	5	(Hot, high, bright fireball)
Gilsonite	5	(Hot, rolling orange and black fireball)

Note: The one thing that kept the Vitamite from receiving a 5 was that it produced a lower fireball. It is a very fine, dense, powder, and tends to be more difficult to blow up into the air and disperse into a large cloud. I came to the conclusion that it needs to be fluffed up a bit, and decided to mix it half-and-half with sawdust in future testing. The performance of any relatively dense powder may be improved by mixing it with some sawdust in order to fluff it up a bit.

These were small, backyard-type fireballs, and I wanted to see how the top performing powders compared in large, display-size Cremoras. So I took some 5 gallon buckets to a recent club shoot, and tested large fireballs there. The results were as follows:

Large 5-Gallon Fireball Scores

Half-and-Half Coffee Mate/Wal-Mart brand creamer	3
Gilsonite	4
Skylighter airfloat charcoal	4
Lamb milk replacer	5
Half-and-half Vitamite/sawdust	5

These large Cremora fireballs from a distance of 200 feet looked better when they were brighter, and the latter two produced those kinds of fireballs. But, none of the above was bad, and each one produced its own unique effect.

Firing Cremoras Electrically

Warning: This can be done easily, but must be done in a particular way in order to be done safely. I have heard of someone being gravely injured when they made a Cremora, with an electric match in the lift powder and the wire leads dangling out of the bucket, and then they lifted the assembly causing a static discharge through the ematch leads and firing the bucket.

First of all, the Cremora pot must be made in place and not moved. Barricade the pot by building it in a hole in the ground, or by placing safe barricades around the bucket. If you are using a 5 gallon bucket, remove the metal handle to prevent it from becoming flying shrapnel in case the bucket is fragmented during firing of the Cremora.

Secondly, quickmatch, or plastic-tape-wrapped Fast-Fuse, must be run into the lift powder from outside the bucket, either through a hole near the bottom, or from the bucket top, down the inside of the bucket and into the black powder. The electric match is then installed into the end of the quickmatch/Fast-Fuse, which insulates the ematch from any static charge that might build up in the Cremora powder.

Then, the Cremora pot is constructed as described above.


Note: Some folks insert an inexpensive metal mixing bowl into the bottom of the bucket, and then install the Cremora fireball ingredients in and above that bowl. I have never done this, but, reportedly, it can increase and improve the upward thrust of the powder and the resulting fireball.

Interestingly, the Cremora fireball pot shown in the picture above, made at the last moment for illustration purposes, was made with the remaining 6 containers of the cheap Kroger coffee creamer that I had purchased for this project. In the small-can test shots, this powder produced only a 2.5-rated, somewhat disappointing fireball. But, the 5-gallon pot's fireball was very hot and impressive. This suggests there is plenty of room for experimentation and personal taste as these devices are developed and refined.

Parasitics

This is what we call additional effects that ride on top of a main device or effect. I, personally, like Cremoras made simply as described above. But, sometimes powdered metals like titanium or aluminum are sprinkled into or on top of the flammable powder as it is added to the container.

I've also seen small aerial fireworks shells, or just individual fireworks stars, placed gently on top of the fireball powder, to be ignited and propelled into the air when the Cremora is fired. This provides some room for creativity on the part of the fireworker, but as usual, safety precautions must be considered, and safe setbacks must be observed. Additionally, after the firing of the Cremora, the site must be inspected for any un-ignited effects.

So, there you have them--some of the simplest, and most effective, fireworks crowd-pleasers you can come up with.

Stay green, have fun, and don't waste that coffee creamer by actually putting it in coffee.

Ned

nedgorski@skylighter.com


I don't know if you have noticed all the news reports this year, but there is definitely something going on in the skies over America. Something that apparently has not happened before.

Oh, sure, we've all been hearing about UFO sightings for years, and even seen weird little blips in movies and all the other PhotoShopped doctored pix that you have seen. Sure, everybody knows somebody who has been abducted by aliens (Most of those currently employed at Skylighter claim to have already been abducted and probed, or will be soon).

Abductions notwithstanding, the sightings this year seem different to me. For one thing, there are more sightings than I can ever recall. And groups of UFOs in formation are being reported.

As usual there's no agreement about what is actually being seen.

I, of course, am a pragmatist, and look for what actually took place. In some of the videos and pictures I have seen, I am quick to point out that they look and fly exactly like our Sky Lanterns. But in an incident reliably reported by Mary Aldrich in Fort Collins, Colorado earlier this month, Jacquie X. denied that possibility:

"Do not feel uncomfortable!" Pssshhaaw. Easy for her to say. I bet Jacquie has never experienced the pure lit-up terror of looking up at unexplainable glowing orbs in the night sky and then having to try to go to sleep afterward. "Best of luck!" she offers. Phsssh. Kinda makes you wonder who Jacquie is working for-them or us-doesn't it?

And of course Jacquie would vehemently deny the following post from a customer of ours, purely coincidentally located right next door to Loveland, Colorado the same day and time that Ms. Aldrich reported her disturbing sighting.

I advised Paul to let sleeping dogs lie.

But I do believe in absolute complete truth and honesty, (especially in the beginning of a relationship with a new girlfriend). Toward that end, I offer you proof of aliens being among us. For based on photographic evidence I will show you below, it is a fact that aliens who have taken over human bodies are using Sky Lanterns as decoys for Snatch Probe spacecraft.

That's right, decoys. Their strategy is fiendish: first show the Earthlings a bunch of Sky Lanterns flying around their neighborhood. The Earthlings will see them and become excited, sometimes photographing and videotaping them, of course.

But, what I am going to tell you next shows you how wickedly, cleverly smart these particular aliens are. And it proves beyond any doubt that Jacquie is right. They must have lived among us for some time. Or else there's no way they would have figured out this next part.

The aliens figured out that all they have to do to distract us from the REAL arrival of their Snatch Probes is to merely give us a glimpse of Sky Lanterns. Then, all the Earthlings in that particular geo-target snatch zone will rush indoors to their computers to discuss the most recent sightings! Leaving, for instance, the Fort Collins snatch zone completely free of casual observers for the next two days!

The Snatch Probes then immediately zoom into their appointed target areas, snatch a fresh load of Earthlings and zoom out to the mother ship, completely unobserved while Jacquie and Mary and the rest of the neighborhood are frantically emailing half the world about seeing the Sky Lanterns earlier.

But as clever as this current crop of aliens is (now officially designated as the SL08 aliens), first-hand evidence of their activities is beginning to trickle in. Herewith are actual photographs of SL08s launching diversionary Sky Lanterns in various parts of the world.

I want you to know right now I am not making this up. This is not one of my jokes. SL08s are the real deal. If you check with the authorities in the areas shown below, they will confirm recent unexplained disappearances of 17 or more human beans from their midst.

The following is a sequence of photographs taken by a very courageous agent of ours, Roger Hartop, who was inserted by submarine onto the southern shore of Lough Corrib in County Galway in the West of the Irish Republic on April 20, 2008.



You can clearly see two aliens in the first picture igniting and launching a diversionary Sky Lantern. You can also see that it produced the desired result very quickly. Despite the fact that the lone Sky Lantern is being launched from an absolutely beautiful setting, there is no longer ANYBODY in sight! The 11 tourists who were there before the Sky Lantern launched have vanished.

County Galway officials will tell you that the disappearances of approximately 17 (more or less) human beans on or about April 20, 2008 have still not been explained.

In the next sequence, you can see what appears to be a party of "young people" launching Sky Lanterns. Parties are excellent cover and are being used by more of "them" to launch their evil diversions. This extraordinary sequence was sent to us by a man who, in my mind, has more courage than sense. Paul Zetlemaier actually shot those photos without a telephoto lens.

Notice how human the SL08s in the photographs appear. It is all but impossible to tell one of these "things" from real Earthlings. Again, I assure you that the photographs below have not been doctored or altered in any way.




Frighteningly, it became quite clear to Paul that at this particular Oregon location, the aliens have even taken over the police force.

Paul stated: "The Police were in attendance but could not find a law against them!"

Couldn't or wouldn't? What do you think? Well, of course they wouldn't find a law against them, now, would they!

Clearly Paul risked his life to get us these shots.

Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Roger. Please stay safe. We all appreciate your risking your lives or even being snatched for a quick probe, and then having your barely living, desiccated husk, spent and ruined, dumped on the side of the planet somewhere.

The rest of you, read below to see what you can do to help prevent the Snatch Probes from landing in your area. This is a matter of national security!


Well, as you have seen, it's no longer a question of IF aliens will ever visit us. They're already here in full force, like some wretched tropical virus gone wild among us. And the SL08s (and possibly others) are using Sky Lanterns to cover the tracks of their Snatch Probes, which continue to land all over the US, and spirit their heinous cargo away into the night, dumping the spent human beans later, after their dreadful experiments.

While we do not yet have a cure for the common alien, we do see a way to at least slow the spread of the SL08 strain and their Snatch Probes. How?

By confusing the aliens. You see, the one thing the aliens depend on is stealth-on the anonymity of the Snatch Probes in action. They found that launching Sky Lanterns will send us all to our computers to report on and read about the latest UFO sightings, and that the Snatch Probes can then operate with impunity, out of sight of the eyes of the authorities and the media.

That must mean that the Snatch Probes are vulnerable to something from us. Else, why hide? Eventually, we will find what their vulnerability is.

Meanwhile, if WE launch the Sky Lanterns, we will confuse the Snatch Probes. The more of them WE launch, the more Earthlings will stay outside and watch. And if we are outside watching, we will be able to see the loathsome Snatch Probes and eventually figure out how to take action against them.

My good people, please! Take action, now! Launch MORE Sky Lanterns. The more of them we launch, the more confused the alien Lantern launchers will become. If the earth-bound aliens are confused, the Snatch Probes will be confused.

By seeing them, and watching them, we WILL figure out how to beat them. It may be as simple as shining laser pointers on them, or using Hellman's mayonnaise against them! Who knows?

Do this, right now: go to the link below and strike a blow for Planet Earth. Help yourself, your loved ones, and your fellow Earthlings survive the SL08 plague. I know of nothing you can do to help the planet more.

Planting a new tree will not help us with this problem. Closing Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke beaches to save the god-forsaken piping plover will not help one iota. And driving slower will not matter to a Snatch Probe pilot experienced in sucking humans right out of their convertibles at 90 MPH!

If you are a patriot, we will help you: buy 2 Sky Lanterns and get one free.

Buy 2 boxes of ten Sky Lanterns and get another box for free.

Get 2 cases of 50 Sky Lanterns, and get another case free.

Click here to get free Sky Lanterns Do it now! Save your planet. You CAN make a difference! Tomorrow night! And be sure and send us your Sky Lantern UFO reports from your local media and any clandestine alien launches of Sky Lanterns. We will use these to alert other Earthlings of the dangers of the SL08 Snatch Probes.