It’s a bird, it’s a plane … no, it’s WTOP getting duped

UPDATE: It looks like the joke is on us.

It was brought to WTOP’s attention (Thank you, William) this story was an April Fool’s joke. As it turns out, if you go to the website that alleges to sell this product and click “pre-order,” a screen pops up with large orange letters saying, “Fooled You.”

It made us feel a tad better to see we weren’t the only news agency that got punk’d on this one. Time fell for it, too.

We should have followed the old journalism adage: ‘If your mother says she loves you, check it out.’


WASHINGTON – Folks looking for a unique way to introduce themselves may be in luck – for a mere $81.29, they can now blast a custom fireworks display – of their face – in the sky.

On its website, company Firebox asks, “Always wanted to see your face in lights? Now you can!”

The British company says all it needs is a picture of a person’s profile, and using 200 rockets can design a fireworks display that creates “a startling likeness of your face that can be seen from up to 30km away.”

Firebox has a team of scientific experts who can identify the most distinctive parts of a face with advanced mapping software. They then package the rockets in a personalized fireworks box that is small enough to carry.

Once lit, the display lasts for about 5 seconds and is best seen from a little more than 200 yards away.

Be careful though, the site warns buyers must check all commercial flight patterns before lighting the fuse.

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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