# Crashed Saucer (Didn't Go As Planned)



## internet troll (Nov 7, 2014)

That is awesome. You can see the time, hard work and thought that went into the display.


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

Wow, I'm not really into the alien theme but you did an amazing job!


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## Hauntings by Design (Jan 2, 2010)

That was great I like the alien fruit idea.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I LOVED the end result! Cool plants, cool moving lights on the saucer, and let's face it only the space station flying overhead might have seen the alien eye if it had ended up on the roof (sure that was an addition once it landed back on the ground)! May not have been what you envisioned but it came out really really cool and that eye really elevated the saucer to a new level!

As for didn't go as planned, probably we have all been there. Had some of those "what the heck was I thinking" moments this year with what should have been a very simple painting project. I personally have always admired those that have done roof projects and certainly not something for the faint of heart. I was almost afraid to see if the saucer wasn't going to go sliding off the roof and really crash into your lawn. Glad that didn't happen. Wonder if you had some venting going on in it's construction if the wind (be it on the roof or on the ground) wouldn't have played so much with the saucer material. 

Well you certainly turned out something to be very proud of and I bet was fun to stand on the road and watch. Oh and BTW, loved the alien costuming. Those masks were so unique and out-of-this-world!


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

The lights around the saucer are killer. How were they created?


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## ghostlland820 (Jan 11, 2014)

Danski said:


> The lights around the saucer are killer. How were they created?


The lights were LED strings called Cosmic Ribbon from Light-o-Rama. To be honest, I was way over my head with these lights. I could do some very basic manipulations, but, fortunately, the software had a feature to automatically generate a sequence to go with an audio file. The _Close Encounters_ sequence was a computer-generated creation.

To others: Thanks for the kind comments. I really wanted the saucer to be crashed into the roof both for the challenge of it and because I wanted the lights to continue to circle through the bedroom below the "crash." That would have been cool.


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

Yah. That's what I'm afraid of with lightorama. I was thinking about trying it sometime but it looks expensive and complicated. Too much for my tiny brain to handle.


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## Rigormortor (Sep 7, 2009)

Wow..... you sure did put alot of time into design and construction of your props.... that all equals to quality made and more stable
props. Your lighting is top notch and the star of the show imo. Man what a setup, the bubbles and plants are a great add. Thanks
for posting. I love seeing stuff like this. Very motivational.


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## lovbyts (Oct 4, 2015)

Excellent job. Yeah the wind sucks, I had several problems because if the wind also but I think in the yard looks better IMO.


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## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

it would've probably looked kewl on the roof ... but unless you were planning more props, then your front yard would be emptyish ... 

anyways it turned out gr8!

amk


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Great? I think its out of this world!!!  Love the plants and lighting....nice little trick.....


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## bobzilla (Nov 15, 2008)

Wow!
Pretty awesome!!!


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## Krazyzeus (Sep 18, 2014)

What a Great Yard setup and video! We believe may have seen your older Crashed Saucer setup which help us to create our smaller version for on top of our garage. The wife also wanted and added the Close Encounters of the Third Kind tune was played in the background. You did a great job and thank you for the inspiration for our UFO setup!


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## whichypoo (Jul 29, 2009)

just loved it and the lights with the close encounters awesome.. thank you for sharing


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

It's quite amazing-- every bit of it! Great work on the saucer! While I can visualize how impressive it would have been to keep the lights in sequence from inside the house, I bet a lot of TOT's enjoyed being able to get a closer look from their own level.
The costumes turned out beautifully, too. Those printed masks are wonderful.


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## The Halloween Lady (Jul 17, 2010)

I am not much of an alien person either, but oh my gosh I just loved this! I remember watching black-and-white alien horror movies movies that scared the crap out of me when I was a kid, and this brought me right back there. Your TOTs must have been absolutely giddy!!!! 
Like GoS said, most of us have LOTS of things that don't go as planned or how we envisioned them but that's OK, only you knew what was your original vision was. Everyone else sees wonder, creativity, and is amazed. Be PROUD it turned out super.


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## Hilda (Jul 31, 2011)

Oh this is pretty AMAZING actually!! What a unique concept! VERY COOL.

I am completely familiar with all those little failures while trying to take something I have in my mind, and build it to put into my yard. haha 
You did a FANTASTIC job. It is way more than 'good enough'. It's pretty fantastic.

Thank you for sharing.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I think it all turned out amazing !
The saucer looks great in the yard and I can't picture it looking any better on the roof.
I love the giant eyeball, too!

Don't knock yourself---- it's outstanding!


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## stick (Apr 2, 2009)

Wow cool effect and looks great. Sorry it did not work out on the roof but I like it.


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## DEADicated (Sep 22, 2008)

I have ideas for the roof every year but have never gotten any more than a few skeletons up there. It was the wind that originally caused the Flying Saucer to crash in your yard anyways wasn't it? Your just keeping to the story line.
LOVED your display!


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## xxScorpion64xx (Oct 15, 2011)

Never been a fan of Aliens on Halloween but wow, your setup really gives off an unearthly, creepy alien vibe, fantastic work, great fabrication, congrats on the hard work.


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## mystic manor (Sep 28, 2009)

Over the top alien setup! I enjoyed the tutorial. Thanks for sharing.


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## ghostlland820 (Jan 11, 2014)

Thanks. The masks are more art than costume. I purchased them at this website, fortunately before their price jumped dramatically.


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## punkineater (Apr 26, 2014)

Don't know how I missed this post....Wow~outstanding alien setup! Unearthly lighting, the saucer was amazing, loved the Close Encounter
music, and the masks and costumes were spot on Great job on the video as well.


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## Attic Hatch (Sep 12, 2015)

Finally got to this thread . . .AWESOME! 
I bet almost ALL build thread titles could be prefaced with "didn't go as planned".
I can say that with ALL of my projects. 
I can plan for weeks and discover the plan's flaw almost right after the build starts.
The most critical element of these kind of projects is how one deals with the inevitable obstacles, and you obviously responded well!

Hats off for tackling all that electrical!
Was the eye part of the original plan? - that added so much.

I apologies if I missed it, but any pictures of the disassembly and storage?


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## ghostlland820 (Jan 11, 2014)

Hi. I'd seen the eyeball on this video and knew I wanted to use it sometime. (The maker of that video was kind enough to send me the file.) I'll probably use it again with a traditional haunted house theme. As for storage, almost everything from the saucer was put into the trash. I have very little space for storage and knew I wasn't going to do a saucer again. The Cosmic Ribbon lights from Light-o-Rama quickly resold on Ebay for nearly as much as the original purchase price. I'd have kept them but never got a handle on how to program them. If the software hadn't come with a feature automatically creating a lighting sequence to match the music, I'd have been lost.


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## booswife02 (Apr 2, 2013)

What a fantastic haunt! So unique. Family friendly and mesmerizing. I love it!


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## chef (Jun 7, 2010)

Great post! Love your humility too. I've done the crashed UFO theme too, so, much props to you. So simple yet quite a design challenge. Once you switch to wood weight is the enemy. I wanted roof mount too, but my cohort talked me out of it. Also, I started an "AREA 51" group, feel free to join and add your photos and videos for others to learn from.

My UFO crash site....


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## Rickster (Aug 15, 2015)

It turned out great. I love that you did not neglect the house. I'm going to steal your crooked shutters idea.


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## Eigengrau (Sep 4, 2013)

i like your method. have been planning a saucer for a while now. what is the audio in your video and how can i get it? Never ever thought of using a bubble blower! and the "plants" are pretty damn cool.


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## Tavisteam (Apr 28, 2016)

You really threw your heart and soul into that- fantastic job! And it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who hits roadblocks.


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## ghostlland820 (Jan 11, 2014)

Eigengrau said:


> i like your method. have been planning a saucer for a while now. what is the audio in your video and how can i get it? Never ever thought of using a bubble blower! and the "plants" are pretty damn cool.


Hi. Thanks. If I had to do it again, I'd go back to the rigid foam board but would brace it with the threaded metal rods I used with the wooden frame. The audio in the video includes the theme from the X-files, sound effects from Star Trek, and the part from Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the mother ship makes contact---all these downloaded from iTunes and spliced together using free Audacity audio editing program. I also included a karaoke version of Space Oddity (Major Tom), also from iTunes.


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## ghostlland820 (Jan 11, 2014)

The shutters easily transform the appearance of the house. Just thin underlayment board with a hook on the back top to hook onto the top of the real shutters. (A fair number of people have believed them to be the real shutters.) They look really cool at night because the white part is Wildfire optical white paint that gives an eerie glow under backlight. Unfortunately the paint is very expensive. Fortunately, the shutters can go a couple years without being repainted. Warning: They will bang against the house on a windy day. I put a small screw in the bottom to hold them to the real shutters.


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