3121: Kite Incident - Revision history

82.132.237.210: Undo revision 395227 by Batbrain55 (talk) Noted, but not the way to suggest it for discussion

2025-12-03T15:33:46Z

Undo revision 395227 by Batbrain55 (talk) Noted, but not the way to suggest it for discussion

Batbrain55: New category idea, since there are at least three comics with this specific premise and accidents are a recurring theme in general.

2025-12-03T15:26:09Z

New category idea, since there are at least three comics with this specific premise and accidents are a recurring theme in general.

BobcatInABox: /* Transcript */

2025-09-12T23:01:04Z

‎Transcript

1234231587678 at 18:32, 3 September 2025

2025-09-03T18:32:23Z

71.46.92.136: Undo revision 384935 by 2001:67C:2628:647:32:704:0:357 (talk)

2025-08-24T18:22:22Z

Undo revision 384935 by 2001:67C:2628:647:32:704:0:357 (talk)

2001:67C:2628:647:32:704:0:357 at 17:59, 24 August 2025

2025-08-24T17:59:03Z

2600:1700:31C0:9F50:D055:C58E:4B0:B6F6: /* Explanation */ Mentioned string snagging on rocket as another reason why air travel may have been shut down

2025-08-08T06:21:45Z

‎Explanation: Mentioned string snagging on rocket as another reason why air travel may have been shut down

FaviFake: sure

2025-07-31T08:55:40Z

sure

82.132.244.235: Fair enough. Meaning none of that is Trivia.

2025-07-31T08:52:40Z

Fair enough. Meaning none of that is Trivia.

FaviFake: Alright if you want to remove it, remove it from the trivia.

2025-07-31T06:49:12Z

Alright if you want to remove it, remove it from the trivia.

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
-[[Category:Accidents]]
+[[Category:Kites]]
 [[Category:Aviation]]

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 [[Category:Kites]]

@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 :[A banner with white text on a black background:]
 :Breaking: Kite Incident Duo Speaks
 :Megan: On the advice of our lawyer, we would like to apologize for the events that shut down global air travel last week...

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 :Cueball: Hey, do you hear sirens?
-:[A CNN logo is at the upper right of the panel. Megan stands at a lectern, with Cueball on one side and Ponytail, holding a briefcase, on the other. Illegible subtitle/sub-banner text appears at the lower left, lower right, and below them.]
+:[A CNN logo is at the upper right of the panel. Megan stands at a lectern, with Cueball on one side and Ponytail, holding a briefcase, on the other. An illegible news ticker is shown below them, along with more illegible text on either side of the panel, just above the news ticker.]
 :[A banner with white text on a black background:]
 :Breaking: Kite Incident Duo Speaks

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
-In this comic [[Meg{{notice2|<big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big><big>CRAPPED{{:{{PAGENAME}}}}}}an]] is setting up a kite as [[Cueball]] arrives. Megan sets up the kite using a fishing line, which is unorthodox but not unheard of. 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 starts 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.
+In this comic [[Megan]] is setting up a kite as [[Cueball]] arrives. Megan sets up the kite using a fishing line, which is unorthodox but not unheard of. 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 starts 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.
 They then get into a loop of adding more line to accommodate a stock of kites, and then more kites to support the line, until the kite chain reaches ludicrous proportions. 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). If the kites have been dragged into a much smaller circle as the result of a kite and/or its string getting caught by an airplane, there's no evidence of this to either the comic's characters or to ourselves, and travel purely by extensive (albeit slower) atmospheric movement has been [[2805: Global Atmospheric Circulation|featured before]]. Modelling the line as a straight line stretching 15 degrees above the horizon, Megan has spent over 38km of fishing line by the time the first kite reaches the jet stream at 10km high, but the mean separation of kites is possibly not particularly far, based upon the heights of the figures in wider shots, and Megan has lost count of how many they deployed, anyway. The curve of the hanging tethers would be highly dependant upon the tension between the two points of suspension, as would the ability of any given kite to fly, but there is not enough clear information to discern to what limits these (and the fishing line) might constrain the scenario.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 They then get into a loop of adding more line to accommodate a stock of kites, and then more kites to support the line, until the kite chain reaches ludicrous proportions. 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). If the kites have been dragged into a much smaller circle as the result of a kite and/or its string getting caught by an airplane, there's no evidence of this to either the comic's characters or to ourselves, and travel purely by extensive (albeit slower) atmospheric movement has been [[2805: Global Atmospheric Circulation|featured before]]. Modelling the line as a straight line stretching 15 degrees above the horizon, Megan has spent over 38km of fishing line by the time the first kite reaches the jet stream at 10km high, but the mean separation of kites is possibly not particularly far, based upon the heights of the figures in wider shots, and Megan has lost count of how many they deployed, anyway. The curve of the hanging tethers would be highly dependant upon the tension between the two points of suspension, as would the ability of any given kite to fly, but there is not enough clear information to discern to what limits these (and the fishing line) might constrain the scenario.
-The sirens in the second-to-last panel refer to a visit by some law-enforcement agency. 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 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. Having their lawyer there might indicate they won't get away with just an apology, but maybe this is to show they meant no harm, to decrease the penalty they will face.
+The sirens in the second-to-last panel refer to a visit by some law-enforcement agency. 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 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}}. (Of course, with xkcd physics, the pilots may have been concerned that [[2148: Cubesat Launch|snagging on the kite string would pull Megan and Cueball off of their feet]].) 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. Having their lawyer there might indicate they won't get away with just an apology, but maybe this is to show they meant no harm, to decrease the penalty they will face.
 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. 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.

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ==Transcript==
 :[Cueball approaches Megan from the left. Megan is flying a kite, with the line attached to a spool.]
 :Cueball: Ooh, flying a kite?

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 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. 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.
-Kites have been a [[:Category:Kites|recurring topic]] on xkcd since the early days.
+Kites have been a [[:Category:Kites|recurring topic]] on xkcd since the early days. It has been three years since the last comic featuring kites, [[2632: Greatest Scientist]], six years since Cueball put one up, in [[2208: Drone Fishing]], and 10 years since Megan did so, for [[1614: Kites]].
 ==Transcript==
@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
 :Breaking: Kite Incident Duo Speaks
 :Megan: On the advice of our lawyer, we would like to apologize for the events that shut down global air travel last week...
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>