Two More UFOs

A contemporary string figure created in 1981 by Yukio Shishido of Kyoto, Japan. It resembles a string figure we featured in May ("Two UFOs") but the football-shaped cages that represent flying saucers are separated rather than fused. One transformation (Step 7) and two alternative endings (Steps 8a and 8b) are offered.

<Full-length video in Windows Media Player>

Step-by-Step Video Clips

Written Instructions

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8a 8b all

Step 8b - (Second ending): After completing Step 7, release 5 loop and extend gently to form an "Alien Creature" (depicted in the adjacent photograph). The two hanging loops represent long hideous tentacles (swing the pattern back and forth to make the tentacles move).

Invite a frightened child to "kill" the alien creature by pulling on the lower slit string located between the tentacles (marked by an arrow in the photograph). The figure will dissolve.