22 May 2026
We reported on this last December in our "Drones Bring Stranger Things to Las Vegas" article, but now the drone light show has been confirmed as an award winner.
Sky Elements Drones, the largest drone light show company in the United States, has officially been awarded its 17th GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the "Largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors/drones", with a 4,979-drone rendering of Vecna, the villain of Netflix's Stranger Things.
The record-setting formation took flight over Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 28, 2025, as part of a large-scale promotional activation produced in collaboration with creative agency ACRONYM on behalf of Netflix, celebrating the premiere of Stranger Things' fifth and final season. ACRONYM worked closely with Netflix to develop the storyboard arc, collaborating with their audio designer to craft a spectacle that would captivate fans. This included determining the climactic finale moment featuring Vecna and the pyrotechnic drones.
The show brought one of television's most recognizable antagonists to life at a scale never before attempted in the sky. Each drone had only about 10 minutes of battery life, and nearly three of those minutes were spent on takeoff and landing. To make it work, Sky Elements, in collaboration with ACRONYM, reprogrammed the show's choreography to aggressively optimize transitions between scenes, shaving down every unnecessary movement to squeeze maximum storytelling into a tight window. The show turned the Las Vegas skyline into a canvas for the Upside Down and gave fans a send-off befitting the cultural footprint of the series.
This record-setting show is part of Sky Elements' ongoing work showcasing the potential of drone light displays. Each performance highlights how brands can deliver messages in a unique, visual way, as the company continues to lead and innovate in the space.
"We're honored to have brought Vecna to life in the sky for Stranger Things, and earning our 17th GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title makes it even more special," said Preston Ward, Chief Pilot of Sky Elements. "Our mission is to bring joy to people, and working with Acronym and Netflix on this finale celebration was a creative and technical thrill from start to finish."
Sky Elements pilot (left) and drones at the ready (right).
"Stranger Things has always lived far beyond the screen, so the challenge was creating a finale moment that felt worthy of the scale of the fandom and the cultural impact of the series," said Mike Lee, Director of Creative Services at ACRONYM. "Bringing Vecna into the Las Vegas sky at this magnitude was equal parts storytelling and engineering. Partnering with Sky Elements allowed us to turn an iconic character into a shared live experience people could feel together in real time — which is exactly the kind of work we believe audiences remember."
About Sky Elements
Sky Elements is the largest provider of professional drone light shows in the U.S., delivering stunning aerial displays for events of all sizes, from major sporting events to corporate and community celebrations. With a top-tier in-house animation team, Sky Elements creates fully customized shows and is the first U.S. company to receive FAA approval for attaching pyrotechnics to drones, offering exclusive "fireworks on drones" experiences. Headquartered in Coppell, Texas, Sky Elements is committed to safety, innovation, and creativity, ensuring every show is memorable and secure.
About Acronym
ACRONYM is an experience company that treats experience as a primary channel for communication, not an afterthought. Formerly known as VTProDesign, ACRONYM partners with brands like Figma, Nvidia, Gatorade, and McDonald's to design and deliver work that is technologically inventive, strategically grounded, and actually memorable to the people who pass through it. ACRONYM operates across North America and collaborates globally, working at the intersection of experiential, technology, and storytelling — and occasionally picking fights with the industry's favorite acronyms along the way.
