The sky over New York filled with thousands of points of light in an unusual rehearsal for ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The images show an aerial installation with 2,977 drones, a number directly tied to the victims of the 2001 attacks.
Test display over the city
According to the organizers of the memorial ceremony, around 3,000 drones rose above New York as part of preparations for the tribute events to be held for the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Footage from the rehearsal shows hundreds of coordinated lights moving in sync and creating different shapes in the night sky above the city.
The outlines of the Twin Towers in the sky
In one of the most symbolic moments of the display, the drones formed the outlines of the destroyed Twin Towers, after earlier rising in a spiral formation.
The installation used exactly 2,977 drones, one for each person killed in the September 11 attacks.
A modern tribute to a wound that remains open
The light display is expected to be part of commemorative activities for one of the gravest events in the modern history of the United States, in which around 3,000 people lost their lives.
According to the concept of the ceremony, the use of drones is intended to offer a modern and symbolic form of remembrance for the victims as the city enters the 25th anniversary of September 11.
For a few minutes, the New York sky turned into a screen of collective memory, where technology was used to symbolically restore to the horizon what the city lost in 2001.
The rehearsal display has shifted attention to how an event that marked American history continues to be commemorated even a quarter-century later.