Maybe not such a bright idea...

by Chris Johnson. Published Sun 24 Oct 2010 18:31

I was pottering around the garden on Sunday morning, enjoying the warmth of the golden Autumn sunshine when something caught my eye.

It looked like a large brown paper bag, crumpled and festooned over a shrub.

Closer inspection showed that it was a hot air lantern. It's a thing that is sent skyward like any hot air balloon, thanks to the heat generated from a lighted taper, set on a wire frame in the bottom.

In the last 12 months it seems that releasing these things to float and glow through the air on still nights, has become something of a national craze.

This was the first time I had seen one close-up and I can tell you it was a serious piece of litter.

I was quite incensed. It dropped into my garden, as a result of what was someone's idea of fun , but it brought no joy to me.

And I was left thinking how dangerous it's going to be if there is an armada of them launched into the air at Hallowe'en or November 5th.

It certainly will not be funny if these things start falling on a car windscreen and causing drivers to swerve and crash.

As you can see from the photograph they are big - about a yard long and two feet in diameter - and they're made out of fibrous paper, like the old Hoover dust bags

There have been reports that they could kill cows, if the wire from a fallen lantern were to be shredded and bailed-up with winter silage, and then ingested by the animals.

They are also credited with starting some grass fires and have also rusulted in a number of false 999 calls to coastguards, from folk who wrongly identify them as distress flares, spotted out at sea.

I can see how a series of these things can appear beautiful and fascinating, but its no good if one man's pleasure is another man's pain.

On balance, I think they should be banned, since the number of false alarms and the litter hazard that they present far outweighs any pleasure that may be derived.

A similar, but much more entertaining and less dangerous passtime, is to fly a kite.

Maybe night kites with LED lights built-in would be a practical alternative.

Hey, maybe that's not such a daft idea. One for Dragon's Den? I might give it a go....Shhh!