"Manta rays" or "Swans" ? what do you call them?

[Ladymecha]

just curious, what do you call the war of the worlds 1953 Martian machines?
some call them "manta rays" while others call them "swans"
I prefer the term "Swans" myself since if they were manta rays they would have tails at the end and the odd mouth that mantas have...
if you ask me they more resemble sting rays....
but due to thier broad 'breast" the martian war machines look more like birds then anything in the ray family..

[Curate]

When I was a kid I just called them 'street lamps'

But to answer your question, I tend to think of them as swans.

[Bayne]

[glow=red,2,300] ;D I remember one old streetlight near my grandmas place with particular fondness because of it's resemblance[/glow]

[Ladymecha]

I swear one of the streetlamps near my house looks exactly like the heat ray...
I am expecting it to wipe out the entire street any day now ;D

[Omega2064]

Most seem to call them swans. I giess that is kind of appropriate considering the eerie grace and stately movement of the craft as they move and the way the death ray turns and sways like a head and neck.

I allways just thought of them as War Machines.

I agree on seeing many many many streetlamps with that exact same design. Makes one wonder which inspired which?

Omega2064

Ladymecha said:

just curious, what do you call the war of the worlds 1953 Martian machines?
some call them "manta rays" while others call them "swans"
I prefer the term "Swans" myself since if they were manta rays they would have tails at the end and the odd mouth that mantas have...
if you ask me they more resemble sting rays....
but due to thier broad 'breast" the martian war machines look more like birds then anything in the ray family..

[David Faltskog]

As the original design of the "Fighting Machines" was based by Albert Nozaki on the Manta Ray.

Then that is the "Offical" nickname that was given to them by the film crew.

A friend of mine used to call them "Flying Vacuum Cleaners"!.

B-B.

[David Faltskog]

How the hell do you spell Vacuum?.

B-B.

[Tripod]

I call them the Flying Fighting Machines.
(Or just Flying Machines)

I must say that your friend in kind of right in calling them Vacuum Cleaners.

Tripod

[Killraven]

Curate said:

When I was a kid I just called them 'street lamps'

Apparently, you can now get hold of Pal War Machine style desk lamps!

[Rob]

I think they look like swans. Big massive metal fire breathing swans

[Killraven]

You must have had a scary experience at the river bank as a child! ;D

Rob said:

I think they look like swans. Big massive metal fire breathing swans

[Luperis]

Personally, I never used to see them as either - I thought they looked like what they were - otherworldly machines.

Rays or Swans? I have heard both names used frequently. Why not say they are half-ray and half-bird in style?

However, I knew someone who just used to call them "Weird Martian Things" because they thought it looked like a weird combination of ousehold gadgets.

[Sam]

They remind me of coathangers!

[ClaytonForrester]

I think the accepted term was and is War Machines,very apt,and to the point.

[Leatherhead]

I also called them street lamps. Sometimes called 'em "Those things that look like hangers".

[Gerkinman]

i always called them "space boomerangs" but then again in Australian lol

[djmatt82]

after you watched that movie as a kid, you could always see the shadow on a street lamp through your curtains....... i know i could.........