KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There's a good chance your phone lit up with texts or social media notifications tonight as an incredible sight showed up over Union Station.
TIMELAPSE: 180 #drones were used for the sky performance above @UnionStationKC, per @Chiefs
— Andres Gutierrez (@AFGutierrez) January 30, 2022
The largest image in the display is 400 feet wide
The show required 80 person hours to design#ChiefsKingdom | #CINvsKC | #NFL | @KSHB41 pic.twitter.com/veYR947RbP
The Kansas City Chiefs partnered with Baltimore, Maryland-based Image Engineering to present a drone show for this weekend's AFC Championship.
It made for a stunner in the skies over Union Station, allowing Chiefs fans to marvel at a sight they've likely only ever seen on television.
David Carrodine, the company's vice president, said the effect is special.
"You drive by a billboard all the time, where you might see the KC logo, but when it is up 400 feet in the air, it's just really dynamic," Carrodine said.
That's an understatement.
Image Engineering uses almost 200 drones to produce jaw-dropping visuals like those seen in recent Olympic opening ceremony productions.
You might even imagine the drones moving like a marching band.
And believe it or not, there's only one conductor, or in this case drone pilot, for the entire show.
Carrodine just hopes that people in Kansas City don't react quite the same way some in Baltimore did when his company produced a similar show for the Ravens.
"Because they didn't know what was going on, people were calling from Baltimore who had not seen a live drone show before," Carrodine said. "Calling 911 saying, 'We're being invaded by aliens!'"
It's not aliens. But it's still worth it to stop and stare.
For those who missed the show on Saturday night, there will be two more on Sunday night if the Chiefs win. The first will start after the sun goes down at around 6:30, and the second will start about two hours later.
