Franz Harary is a magician/illusionist, famous for making a Space Shuttle disappear in 1994 which aired on NBC’s “World’s Greatest Magic”, as well as making MD-80 airliner appear from thin air in 1992, and for making the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas disappear in 1997.
Most illusionists will not reveal their techniques, although it most likely has something to do with mirrors and camera angles. Franz Harary had this to say in a 2002 interview:
“Well, in my heart, I had no clue how I would ever create, let alone afford to pull off, a big TV effect. After about a week of playing with cardboard boxes and plywood, I decided to simply grab a camera and a friend’s car and go out into a parking lot and play around. What I came up with was a new principle for creating very large illusions for television with virtually no props. Amazingly, 20 years later, that method still serves me well.”
http://www.harary.com/news-023.html
I’m afraid that’s about as close as we’re going to get to the secret of the disappearing Space Shuttle, at least for now.
