Oh, this sucks! Come on, snipers, where are you? — Bart, “Lisa The Greek”

The Super Bowl XXVI halftime show, as predicted by the Simpsons writers, wasn’t the dancing alien bit, but was in fact some kind of ice skating thing. I trust the irony of using ice skating — the same event that modern programmers use to attempt to pull non-football fans away from the big game — as the draw is not lost on you, dear reader:

Anyway, getting to the matter at hand, the closing ceremonies of the ’84 Olympic Games were in fact so impressive that they brought a bona fide alien life form to Los Angeles.

Details as to how organizers pulled off the flying saucer stunt remain surprisingly under wraps, leading some to suspect a conspiracy, but it appears that Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr was the brains behind the project. Via Mouse Planet:

WS: Another person I don’t think gets enough credit for his contributions to early Disneyland was Tommy Walker who was in charge of Entertainment. Did you ever work with him?

BG: Yes, I designed a 30-foot-flying saucer spacecraft that had a lot of lights and was carried by helicopter. Since I had designed a 50-foot-flying saucer for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Closing Ceremonies, Tommy Walker Productions wanted a smaller one built to rent out at various events.

Personally, I’m interested in the identity of the actor who played the alien, so step forward if you’re out there.