The apparitions were achieved using a complex configuration of volumetric lasers fired at high altitudes and reflected downward from an array of micro-satellites and aerostats.

The metals in the atmosphere afforded a viable substrate, whose flaws made the whole illusion (a kind of planet-scaled Pepper’s Ghost) if anything seem more realistic.

At least insofar as an enormous talking déesse based on Celine Dion is capable of being called “realistic.”