I'm not a shooting star

[plasmid]

When scheduled to shine, from horizons we rise

Now airborne traversing the darkest of skies

With people observing our tortuous route

We're giving direction to those most astute

Our tails recapitulate paths where we flowed

As screaming across, over time we erode

'til nothing but brightness is left in our wake

And then, even that will the darkness retake

To those who have gathered, while brilliance persists

Behold exhibitions you don't want to miss

Ignoring the airplanes, just gaze on our light

Maintaining a silence, or scorn you'll incite

Remember, if anything hoping to reap

You'd better avoid being lulled off to sleep

[DudleyDude]

would be lightning bugs

[Guest]

A Comet?

-or-

Northern Lights?(or southern I suppose)

edit: thought of one more..

Fireworks show?

Edited June 20, 2009 by James8421

[plasmid]

would be lightning bugs

I don't see it fitting terribly well with lines 6-7.

A Comet?

Too much like the title's exclusion.

Northern Lights?(or southern I suppose)

Something I'm not familiar with in my past and current geographic area. Do they rise from a horizon?

Fireworks show?

A good one, but wouldn't call for silence.

[DudleyDude]

the act of going to the movies or just the film itself

When scheduled to shine, from horizons we rise - the movie starts on schedule. The projector

Now airborne traversing the darkest of skies - is to the back and the projection goes overhead in the dark theater

With people observing our tortuous route - Not sure about the movies nowdays, but there used to be visual cues to the

We're giving direction to those most astute - projectionist to let him know when to switch reels

Our tails recapitulate paths where we flowed - I think this refers to the film itself winding through the projector

As screaming across, over time we erode - "erode" could refer to the back reel getting smaller or the fact that the film deteriorates over time

'til nothing but brightness is left in our wake - after the last of the film feeds past the lamp, the screen will get very bright

And then, even that will the darkness retake - until the projectionist turns off the projector

To those who have gathered, while brilliance persists

Behold exhibitions you don't want to miss

Ignoring the airplanes, just gaze on our light - this is the one line I can't really make fit

Maintaining a silence, or scorn you'll incite - never talk when at the movies

Remember, if anything hoping to reap

You'd better avoid being lulled off to sleep - and try not to sleep through the movie.

[plasmid]

the act of going to the movies or just the film itself

When scheduled to shine, from horizons we rise - the movie starts on schedule. The projector

Now airborne traversing the darkest of skies - is to the back and the projection goes overhead in the dark theater

With people observing our tortuous route - Not sure about the movies nowdays, but there used to be visual cues to the

We're giving direction to those most astute - projectionist to let him know when to switch reels

Our tails recapitulate paths where we flowed - I think this refers to the film itself winding through the projector

As screaming across, over time we erode - "erode" could refer to the back reel getting smaller or the fact that the film deteriorates over time

'til nothing but brightness is left in our wake - after the last of the film feeds past the lamp, the screen will get very bright

And then, even that will the darkness retake - until the projectionist turns off the projector

To those who have gathered, while brilliance persists

Behold exhibitions you don't want to miss

Ignoring the airplanes, just gaze on our light - this is the one line I can't really make fit

Maintaining a silence, or scorn you'll incite - never talk when at the movies

Remember, if anything hoping to reap

You'd better avoid being lulled off to sleep - and try not to sleep through the movie.

Wow, that is a really good answer. I knew I excluded the more modern kinds, but the "airplane" line really is the only one that excludes that answer. Not what I was going for, but I can see how with only one clue not fitting you would want to give it a shot and see if I had some sort of explanation for it in mind.

[DudleyDude]

Wow, that is a really good answer. I knew I excluded the more modern kinds, but the "airplane" line really is the only one that excludes that answer. Not what I was going for, but I can see how with only one clue not fitting you would want to give it a shot and see if I had some sort of explanation for it in mind.

Dang, I really thought I had it. You may think you're forcing me to think harder but in reality I'm just going to have a beer and see if that helps at all

[plainglazed]

blip

cuz gotta think there will need to be others.

[plasmid]

blip

cuz gotta think there will need to be others.

Another interesting one I hadn't considered. The conundrum would be that in order to be scheduled in the first line, you would have to be an airplane, which would make the 11th line kind of messed up. More guesses to come.

[Guest]

sounds like

stars. Or perhaps spotlights (like the big ground light in batman)?

Just a thought...

[EDM]

fireflies.....or meteors.... but i think chess_vixen gave the right answer

nice riddle though...

[plasmid]

The stars and meteors, as the title says, are what this riddle is meant to sound like while actually describing something quite different.

The Bat Signal is a pretty creative answer, but the last three lines I don't think would apply to it.

Fireflies doesn't seem to fit terribly well with lines 6-7.

[EDM]

lightning....without thunder?

or

lava?

[plasmid]

lightning....without thunder?

or

lava?

Little danger of being lulled to sleep during the first event, simply not enough time. The second doesn't fit the clues about silence or airplanes so well.

[EDM]

Little danger of being lulled to sleep during the first event, simply not enough time. The second doesn't fit the clues about silence or airplanes so well.

i better sleep on it then.........

[Wilson]

Driving at night?

[plasmid]

Driving at night?

That would fit very well with the end, but not the second or eleventh lines.

[Guest]

A circus performer?

(more specifically a flying trapeze)

[plasmid]

A circus performer?

(more specifically a flying trapeze)

I can't see how that one would fit with the erosion mentioned in line six.

[hugemonkey]

Fireworks show?

A good one, but wouldn't call for silence.

a silent fireworks display for the deaf?

[deannaart]

SATELLITE?

[EDM]

candle..???

ok...that was weird....

[plasmid]

SATELLITE?

Fits with most of the clues, and forced me to do some Googling to make sure of what I had in mind. It turns out that although the geosynchronous and high Earth orbit ones simply run out of juice, the low Earth orbit ones do undergo a reentry that's visible from Earth, so that variety could fit the clues in lines 5-8. I'm not sure how you would interpret the end of the riddle though.

ok...that was weird....

candle..???

Was the weirdness in my trying to give reasons why anything other than the correct answer wouldn't fit, or was it about hugemonkey's answer? I feel like the explanations force me to consider all the proposed answers carefully and see if they might fit instead of just saying yes or no, and serve as training to make me write riddles with enough clues to avoid having lots of potentially correct answers. (I don't like it when dozens of answers could potentially fit but you're expected to pick the specific one the author had in mind.) And it occasionally makes me learn a random fact, like about reentry from low Earth orbit vs geosynchronous orbit and how Sputnik 2 disintegrated in 10 minutes streaking across from New York to the Amazon, not leaving enough time for any observers to doze off. But I can see how from a guesser's point of view it might be weird to have someone point out why they think an answer doesn't fit.

If you prefer: not it.

Or if you were talking about hugemonkey's answer, then yes, he's being a loco-nut in the coconut.

[EDM]

Fits with most of the clues, and forced me to do some Googling to make sure of what I had in mind. It turns out that although the geosynchronous and high Earth orbit ones simply run out of juice, the low Earth orbit ones do undergo a reentry that's visible from Earth, so that variety could fit the clues in lines 5-8. I'm not sure how you would interpret the end of the riddle though.

Was the weirdness in my trying to give reasons why anything other than the correct answer wouldn't fit, or was it about hugemonkey's answer? I feel like the explanations force me to consider all the proposed answers carefully and see if they might fit instead of just saying yes or no, and serve as training to make me write riddles with enough clues to avoid having lots of potentially correct answers. (I don't like it when dozens of answers could potentially fit but you're expected to pick the specific one the author had in mind.) And it occasionally makes me learn a random fact, like about reentry from low Earth orbit vs geosynchronous orbit and how Sputnik 2 disintegrated in 10 minutes streaking across from New York to the Amazon, not leaving enough time for any observers to doze off. But I can see how from a guesser's point of view it might be weird to have someone point out why they think an answer doesn't fit.

If you prefer: not it.

Or if you were talking about hugemonkey's answer, then yes, he's being a loco-nut in the coconut.

actually, i called my answer weird as it doesn't fit......i just got stumped.......

I REALLY LIKE THIS RIDDLE!!!!

[Guest]

When scheduled to shine, from horizons we rise = launched from the ground

Now airborne traversing the darkest of skies = the darkest skies are in outer space

With people observing our tortuous route = people watching the launch

We're giving direction to those most astute = the smartest ones are watching to find a better way to do it next time; go farther, stay longer, etc.

Our tails recapitulate paths where we flowed = the afterburn, the fire follows the trail of the rocket

As screaming across, over time we erode = as they go higher, bits fall off on purpose

'til nothing but brightness is left in our wake = while you're watching, all you see see eventually is the light from the fire

And then, even that will the darkness retake = it fades eventually

To those who have gathered, while brilliance persists = it's bright, and milestone-y

Behold exhibitions you don't want to miss = you wanna be there for the occasion

Ignoring the airplanes, just gaze on our light = you don't notice planes when you watch a shuttle taking off

Maintaining a silence, or scorn you'll incite = quiet respect

Remember, if anything hoping to reap = if you want to learn from it

You'd better avoid being lulled off to sleep = don't fall asleep, even though it can be boring to watch, even if on TV.

launching a new rocket ship

[plasmid]

launching a new rocket ship

I like your logic. I think erosion is pretty negligible, though: even the shuttle's modern reentry heat shields are reusable. Unless you're counting jettisoning the boosters and fuel tank as erosion, or stages of an old multistaged rocket? I could see how that would be a reasonable explanation; this is a riddle after all. But the last line still really doesn't seem like it could apply to a launch.