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This trick is excellent. It is a great reputation maker and I recommend this to any magician out there. I have shown this trick to a number of people and the expressions on their faces are unreal. You have to see the peoples faces to believe it.

Thanks for that, Ste. Unfortunately, it doesn't really tell us anything about the trick, though!

Have a look at the reviews already posted by Ace and myself.

I've also posted a "template" which you can use as a framework for reviewing an effect.

Let us know some more about UFO!

UFO it excellent.
I first saw it done by a guy in a magic shop in Vegas. He used a credit card from a fellow shopper and he threw it in the air to make it spin and it carried on spinning inbetween his hands, in front of my eyes, from about 2 feet.!
My first thought was that without his hands where they were, the trick would be over. But then he span the spinning card around his body until it came to rest at the starting position. Then he span it around the other side, before stopping the card and handing it back to an amazed customer. I then proceeded to buy it immediately.
Even now I know how it's done, it still blows me away when I see someone perform it.
This I recommend to any advanced magician.

Great for when your paying the bill in a restaurant, the look on waiters faces when you do this is worth the price alone.

Nik

I don't think that the UFO is worth buying because it is way to expensive. I have seen this effect for $30! I mean, who would ever pay that much for thread and a card?

Well over priced, I bought it and feel a bit conned

You would be far better off buying the video "Who's Afraid of IT" by John LeClair.
It teaches a similar effect plus lots more and comes complete with more than just the thread

stable door - horse - gone

An ITR makes this really easy to pull off also and you can do the Floating Bill Trick too!

[Anonymously Posted by: 'James George']

I tried this trick with my ITR but the card went flying away from my body and pulled out too much IT and I broke the elastic in my ITR.
So no it dosent work with an ITR.

Jeez... that must have been some sort of heavy card to snap the elastic in an ITR... plus, the thread must have been pretty strong, too. Are you sure you're doing it right????

ITR's are perfect for this type of effect, especially ITRs which allow you to 'brake' the thread and lock it's length.

Most ITRs can be converted to a locking reel quite easily, too. ITRs are great for impromptu hook-ups, like this effect, as they stash away neatly, rather that having a permanent hook-up, which can hinder other parts of your performance. Of course, the other great thing about ITRs (especially motorised reels) are that they can achieve movement without obvious bodily gestures - usually the giveaway with IT effects.

Back to the topic of the thread: The UFO sounds similar to many other effects, like the orginal Hummer Card, or helicopter card effect.

They are all great effects in their own way, but require a lot of practice.

Prices vary, too. The Hummer Card should only cost about £6, if that's the effect your looking for. And £6 is not a great deal to fork out...

The elastic in my ITR was not the original elastic, it was from a sock.
Thats why it broke. can you tell us how to convert an ITR to a locking reel.
Thanks.

Another point about ITRs is that the grade of elastic varies from type to type, the smaller closeup style ones eg ITR 2000 have much thinner and more fragile thread than the bigger ones.
A good source for info on thread of all types is Micheal Ammars thread miracles video, he will give you a load of thread tricks and tell you how to get your own thread (elastic too) from tights, and there is a section on reals including how to re-thread them.

The best source of replacement elastic IMHO is from a fabrics shop. About 99p gets you enough to mend LOTS of times.

I've got numerous ITRs - small, large, electronic, barrel shaped, tube shaped... and the elastic I always use is hoisery elastic. Never a problem. Finally snaps of it's own free will...

And to convert to a locking reel - if you're using a tube-type reel (a plastic tube with a spooled inner), simply keep a ball of wax stuck to the tube, which is about the size of a pea. When you've pulled enough thread out, put the pea over the hole - voila - thread is locked. To unlock - just remove the wax, and the thread is retracted.

The Ammar thread miracles video sounds great - re-threading a reel is a major pain in the ... aadvark.

kinda on the same vein here i would recommend the "mini indian ITR" from emagictricks.co.uk , its the only itr i use and has never let me down,although it would be nice to have the REALLY expensive silent electric one

Along a similar vein "Loops" gives you a wonderfully convenient and simple way to perform a number of IT routines. I must confess to never having used an ITR, but I often use Loops.

I suppose it is a confidence thing.

... Tony