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One night in September in 2025, the radiant face of the Child Jesus appeared in the sky above the Vatican—apparently, surely, witnessed by tens of thousands. It was almost 2,000 years since the Book of Revelation predicted, in John’s last vision, that “he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him.” Soon, the statue turned into the late Pope Francis. Fortunately, the face of the pope that looked at the sky of Rome appeared like a light from God, but with drones.
Accompanying the ghost was not a choir of seraphs but two earthlings, who were hundreds of feet below, singing “Amazing Grace“: an Italian artist named Andrea Bocelli, and was dressed in jewels and gold chains and pendants on the cross, American Teddy Swims with a tattoo on his face. the concert that was held in this sacred square – crying.
The drone show in the Vatican in the sky was created by Nova Sky Stories, the company of Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother (who, in his opinion, owns the whole sky. rockets and satellites). One recent evening in San Francisco, Kimbal described that night to me. He said: “In a world where religious people are fighting, it was a very powerful message. Kimbal is Musk, with his cowboy hat and the air of a small-town mayor. He found out he was on WhatsApp where Vatican officials and Pharrell’s representatives were arguing about technology.
You could say that the unexpected crossing between drones and papas has a beginning, like these things doat Burning Man. In 2021, when the event was canceled due to the pandemic, Kimbal encouraged long-time burners to join the Black Rock Desert in an unofficial event known as Free Burn. Normally, Burning Man ends with the lighting of a large human-like effigy—a person known by his name—but that year, the United States Land Management Board banned desert goers from lighting fires.
Present at Free Burn was Ralph Nauta, a Dutch artist who works with light and technology. Kimbal asked if they could do a no-fire show on the last night, and Nauta agreed. A crowd gathered on the playa as Nauta released a a group of drones which floated on the earth for a few minutes before entering the Man’s dotted line. The crowd gasped, then roared. The man slowly raised his hands, turned red, and disappeared. “Everybody, including me, was in tears, all tears,” Kimbal said. “It was one of the most powerful moments of my life.”
A year later, Kimbal launched Nova Sky Stories; investors in the company’s most recent $50 million round included Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who joined the group after seeing a drone show in 2022—where else?—Burning Man. The drone show has transformative elements, Kimbal said: “The cynic in you leaves. It’s like a path to a spiritual place.” He told me that Pope Leo, who watched the Vatican exhibition from a nearby house, gave him a pamphlet afterwards. “His statement,” says Kimbal, “was that I made Michelangelo happy.”
