The 2014 way to watch your Independence Day fireworks display? By drone, of course.
Joe Stiglingh rigged his DJI Phantom 2 drone with a GoPro Hero 3 Silver camera, then navigated the UAV into the sparks of the fireworks show in West Palm Beach, Florida. According to , the drone came away unharmed—and with some footage that will make you proud to be American.
The result of this fiery flight is a four-minute video, set to music from Andrea Bocelli. The video has gone viral, drawing more than 6 million views on YouTube.
Robert Hartline, a Nashville entrepreneur, also sent a drone into the fireworks display of downtown Nashville (minus the opera). The videos have sparked controversy, with some calling the act dangerous and irresponsible.
“It should be obvious that flying a drone through a fireworks display is unsafe and illegal,” Forbes contributor Gregory McNeal told the . “Unfortunately, stories like these demonstrate that what is clearly unsafe to most people is somehow lost on a few careless operators.”
Whether filming fireworks with drones is irresponsible or not, this video proves that it definitely has impressive visual results.