Sky lantern

What it is

A sky lantern is a floating paper vessel open at the base, where a small fire heats the enclosed air and lifts it aloft. The object stays airborne until its heat source burns out, after which it drifts back down. Long constructed across various continents, these lanterns feature in communal festivities, seasonal games, and sacred observances. Across Asian and American traditions, launching a lantern is believed to carry personal wishes to heaven, offer homage to spiritual teachers, turn away harmful energy, and invite prosperity into the community.

Where it comes from

China developed the earliest documented hot air vessels. Historical traditions attribute the creation of the lantern to the third-century military commander Zhuge Liang, known by the honorific Kongming. Surrounded by hostile forces, he is said to have written a plea for assistance on a floating lantern to summon relief. Other accounts suggest the shape merely resembled his traditional hat. During the Mongol invasion of Poland, Mongolian troops employed Chinese lanterns during the Battle of Legnica, marking the earliest known use of hot air ballooning in Europe.

How it is done

To launch a lantern, participants ignite a fuel cell or candle secured to a rigid collar beneath the lower opening. The flame warms the air trapped within the shell, lowering its density until the object ascends. Devotees often write prayers, personal petitions, or names directly onto the paper walls before flight. Larger constructions require several people to hold the delicate material upright and open, ensuring the envelope fills completely with warm air without scorching the sides before release.

Tools and materials

Builders craft the outer shell from lightweight materials, including oiled pith paper, Japanese washi glassine sheets, or colourful translucent tissue paper. Bamboo strips or slender metal hoops support the structure and maintain the shape of the lower opening. The heat source consists of a small candle, a waxy flammable cell, or a packet of paraffin or rosin wrapped in cloth.

What it is for

Releasing a lantern serves both festive and spiritual purposes. In Buddhist communities, the rising lights represent devotional offerings to the Buddha, prayers for global peace, and the triumph of wisdom over darkness. In Thai traditions, sending a lantern aloft is believed to carry away anxieties and bad luck while earning religious merit. In other celebrations, the ritual is held to turn away negative influences, promote forgiveness, and seek blessings for the upcoming year.

Peoples and places

Different regions have adapted the tradition to their own customs. In northern Thailand, the Lanna people release floating lanterns known as khom loi. In Bangladesh and Northeast India, Buddhist communities fly fanus lanterns in the Chittagong region and surrounding hills. In Portugal and Brazil, people construct multi-coloured geometric balloons called balões for midwinter celebrations, while residents of Semboku in Japan launch large paper balloons called kamifūsen.

What people believe

The flight of the lantern carries deep symbolic meaning across different faiths. In Taiwan, written petitions released into the sky are believed to deliver messages directly to God. Thai observers hold that the departing flame carries away life troubles and personal misfortunes. In Chinese thought, the rounded form of the lantern and its gathering with others in the night sky express family wholeness, reunion, and reconciliation during the first full moon.

When it is done

Lantern releases coincide with significant lunar and festive occasions. Chinese communities fly them during the Lantern Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, while Taiwan holds massive releases on the fifteenth day of the new year. Buddhists launch them on the full moon of Probarona Purnima to mark the end of the rains retreat. In Thailand, launches occur during Yi Peng, whereas Brazil celebrates them during the late June winter holidays.

How scholars and sceptics see it

The historian of science Joseph Needham documented the early technological history of these devices. His research indicated that Chinese experimenters constructed small hot air balloons for military signalling as early as the third century BC. In military history, early commanders utilized them for nocturnal sieges, surveillance, and sending secret communications before the practice shifted toward popular festivals.

Compare and confuse

The device is known under various regional names, such as sky candles, fire balloons, khom loi in Thailand, and balão in Brazil. Because of their silent flight and glowing appearance at night, sky lanterns have occasionally been offered as an explanation for reported unidentified flying object sightings.

Law and persecution

Due to severe fire hazards and risks to livestock, several governments have outlawed sky lanterns. Vietnam banned the manufacture, commercial sale, and release of lanterns nationwide in 2009. In Brazil, launching a lantern has been treated as an environmental crime since 1998, carrying potential prison sentences of up to three years.

Today

Sky lantern festivals now attract thousands of visitors, prompting organizers to manage crowd safety and environmental impact. At Pingxi in Taiwan, immense demand led organizers to extend releases over two separate days, sending up coordinated waves of over a thousand lanterns each night. Commercial producers have also experimented with biodegradable, fireproof materials to mitigate ecological damage.

Days linked to Sky lantern

Questions people ask about Sky lantern

Good reading and sources

• Smethwick fire: Chinese lantern 'caused largest blaze'BBC, Article
• Krefeld zoo fire: German police suspect three womenBBC, Article

• Sky lantern on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data