3121: Kite Incident

2025-07-29T01:23:15Z

2600:1702:AD0:8030:59FF:8CAE:35EE:E580: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3121
| date = July 28, 2025
| title = Kite Incident
| image = kite_incident_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x1610px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Detectives say the key to tracking down the source of the kites was a large wall map covered in thumbtacks and string. 'It's the first time that method has ever actually worked,' said a spokesperson.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, Megan sets up a kite using a fishing line, which is unorthodox but not unheard of. Cueball expresses his concern regarding how high the kite is flying, which Megan dismisses, and from this point onward, kites are flown farther and farther away. Because the connection between the holding point and the lofted kite will form a {{w|catenary}} hanging down, after paying out sufficient line toward a kite increasingly far downwind, the line will eventually start to dip and possibly touch the ground. Cueball suggests adding another kite at that point, after which they can then pay out more line and keep the line raised off the ground for additional distance. Further kites are attached to the spools to get a longer and longer line of kites.

Having apparently also extended their original spool of fishing line with yet more spools'-worth, the kites become so numerous and high-flying that they eventually blow in a circle around a significant part of the planet, following a {{w|jet stream}}. A circle on the surface of the Earth that follows the line of latitude where Randall lives is about 18,500 miles long, though a circumpolar jet-stream would curve into higher and lower latitudes to possibly add a lot more distance (as well as being at a higher altitude, which would add a more predictable fraction to its length).

The sirens in the second-to-last panel refer to a visit by some law-enforcement agency since the string of kites circling the Earth has interfered with international air travel. Although the mass of any given kite and the presence of such a relatively light and fragile tether should not cause too much difficulty for the majority of cases of airliners if their wing or body collides with the kite-chain, the danger of a kite being ingested into the engine would ''preferably'' be avoided out of an abundance of caution. This is true even if the presence of kites is known to be not a more solid danger rather than a mystery and/or {{w|2023 Chinese balloon incident|perceived threat}} which can lead to {{w|Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption|air travel to be shut down}}. Regardless of the actual degree of danger, the authorities react accordingly, and events culminate in Megan and Cueball being forced to issue a formal apology.

The title text alludes to an investigation technique seen in many types of media where the investigator {{tvtropes|StringTheory|pins text and photo evidence to a board}}, connecting related evidence with string, or possibly similarly {{tvtropes|ConnectTheDeaths|annotating a map}}. This technique is also made fun of in [[2244: Thumbtacks And String]]. Though often good enough for fictional purposes, at least to the extent that the plot demands, the text indicates that real-world uses of 'string on a map' to discover a useful result have not actually been successful. But in this case, the string on the map would be there to indicate the actual extent to the string ''in the air'', probably from various reports received from around the world, and apparently it had successfully led to the discovery of the location from which the string originated on the ground and the subsequent intervention against the duo's excessive kite-deployment activity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Kites]]
[[Category:Aviation]]

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3121: Kite Incident