Time Magazine featured this video on July 4th, in a stub article that added little more than “this looks incredible.” And it does look pretty good, especially invested with the sound of Con te Partiro sung in Bocelli’s beautiful voice.

But I couldn’t help but think of the symbolism of this, especially from the audience’s standpoint on the ground.

Imagine it: the sky lit with a classic fireworks display, the “rockets bursting in air”; and through it, gliding silently, the tiny silhouette of an unmanned drone with cameras pointing in every direction. Truly a fitting sign for our time.