It's a Bird, It's a Plane ... No, It's a Camera!

If you see something that looks like four hula hoops attached together with some sort of weird contraption in the middle hovering in the sky, don't automatically assume that it's a UFO.

Sure, the aliens have probably been slowly infiltrating our unsuspecting planet for many years now, but for a moment, put that thought aside. That device you see buzzing about might just be the Aeryon Scout, a new product from Aeryon Labs of Waterloo that is actually a flying camera.

The Aeryon ScoutThe device consists of four connected foam rings with a roter inside. Attached to its bottom is a camera.

Why would anyone make such a weird thing, you ask? Well, the makers of the Aeryon Scout say the intent is to fly the camera via remote control to take pictures of places where it's too difficult, dangerous or time consuming to go.

The company hopes to sell its invention to police forces, security companies and surveying and engineering firms. No doubt the paparazzi will also be lining up to buy the product so they can snap those hard-to-get photos of Beyonce or Salma Hayek. For the ladies, how about George Clooney or Brad Pitt?

Aeryon was founded by Steffen Lindner, 39, Dave Kroetsch, 28, and Mike Peasgood, 34. "I've always liked engineering and building stuff," Kroetsch, Aeryon's president, told The Record newspaper, based in Ontario. "As rewarding as it was to build chips for DVD players, it's not as fun as building something that flies around."

Source: The Record and Aeryon Labs