Kite Incident
Detectives say the key to tracking down the source of the kites was a large wall map covered in thumbtacks and string. 'It's the first time that method has ever actually worked,' said a spokesperson.
Detectives say the key to tracking down the source of the kites was a large wall map covered in thumbtacks and string. 'It's the first time that method has ever actually worked,' said a spokesperson.
In this comic Megan is setting up a kite as Cueball arrives. Megan sets up the kite using a fishing line, which is unorthodox but not unheard of. Because the connection between the holding point and the lofted kite will form a catenary hanging down, after paying out sufficient line toward a kite increasingly far downwind, the line starts to dip and possibly touch the ground. Cueball suggests adding another kite at that point, after which they can then pay out more line and keep the line raised off the ground for additional distance.
They then get into a loop of adding more line to accommodate a stock of kites, and then more kites to support the line, until the kite chain reaches ludicrous proportions. The kites become so numerous and high-flying that they eventually blow in a circle around a significant part of the planet, following a jet stream. A circle on the surface of the Earth that follows the line of latitude where Randall lives is about 18,500 miles long, though a circumpolar jet-stream would curve into higher and lower latitudes to possibly add a lot more distance (as well as being at a higher altitude, which would add a more predictable fraction to its length). If the kites have been dragged into a much smaller circle as the result of a kite and/or its string getting caught by an airplane, there's no evidence of this to either the comic's characters or to ourselves, and travel purely by extensive (albeit slower) atmospheric movement has been featured before. Modelling the line as a straight line stretching 15 degrees above the horizon, Megan has spent over 38km of fishing line by the time the first kite reaches the jet stream at 10km high, but the mean separation of kites is possibly not particularly far, based upon the heights of the figures in wider shots, and Megan has lost count of how many they deployed, anyway. The curve of the hanging tethers would be highly dependant upon the tension between the two points of suspension, as would the ability of any given kite to fly, but there is not enough clear information to discern to what limits these (and the fishing line) might constrain the scenario.
The sirens in the second-to-last panel refer to a visit by some law-enforcement agency. The string of kites circling the Earth has interfered with international air travel. Although the mass of any given kite and the presence of such a relatively light and fragile tether should not cause too much difficulty for the majority of airliners if their wing or body collides with the kite-chain, the danger of a kite being ingested into the engine would preferably be avoided out of an abundance of caution. This is true even if the presence of kites is known to be not a more solid danger rather than a mystery and/or perceived threat which can lead to air travel to be shut down. (Of course, with xkcd physics, the pilots may have been concerned that snagging on the kite string would pull Megan and Cueball off of their feet.) Regardless of the actual degree of danger, the authorities react accordingly, and events culminate in Megan and Cueball being forced to issue a formal apology. Having their lawyer there might indicate they won't get away with just an apology, but maybe this is to show they meant no harm, to decrease the penalty they will face.
The title text alludes to an investigation technique seen in many types of media where the investigator pins text and photo evidence to a board, connecting related evidence with string. This technique is also made fun of in 2244: Thumbtacks And String. Though often good enough for fictional purposes, at least to the extent that the plot demands, the text indicates that real-world uses of 'string on a map' to discover a useful result have not actually been successful. But in this case, the string on the map would be there to indicate the actual extent to the string in the air, probably from various reports received from around the world, and apparently it had successfully led to the discovery of the location from which the string originated on the ground and the subsequent intervention against the duo's excessive kite-deployment activity.
Kites have been a recurring topic on xkcd since the early days. It has been three years since the last comic featuring kites, 2632: Greatest Scientist, six years since Cueball put one up, in 2208: Drone Fishing, and 10 years since Megan did so, for 1614: Kites.