Rhino Factoids: The Day Pink Floyd’s Pig Flew

39 years ago today, an event took place that seriously threw a wrench into the plans of anyone in South West London who may have uttered the phrase, “Oh, sure, I'll do that for you…when pigs fly!” If it's any consolation to those people, though, it wasn't exactly the best day for the members of Pink Floyd, either.

When Pink Floyd came up with the idea of doing an album entitled Animals, it was accompanied with a cover concept which involved having a 40-foot inflatable pig floating over Battersea Power Station. It was always going to be a bit of a struggle to bring this plan to fruition, so much so that when they prepared for the photo shoot, they had a marksman on hand who was prepared to shoot down the balloon in case anything went wrong. It was a great plan, and it might well have worked, too, if only they'd actually taken the picture on the day they'd originally intended to take it.

Unfortunately, they ended up bumping things to the next day, and when they did so, they neglected to tell the marksman to join them. As such, he wasn't present when, as a result of a particularly forceful gust of wind, the pig broke free of its moorings and within five minutes had completely vanished from sight. As one might reasonably expect, a minor panic ensued, which was a reasonable reaction, particularly when you learn that the pig was actually spotted by airline pilots flying at 30,000 feet.

Unsurprisingly, flights at Heathrow were cancelled as a result of the rampant pig, but by evening's end the beast had come to a rest on a farm in Kent, and it was successfully returned, repaired slightly, and re-inflated in order to get the album shot that we all know and love. Well, sort of, anyway. As it happens, the sky on the day they made the second attempt at taking the cover photo was deemed “boring,” resulting in the decision to use a composite shot for the cover art.

But, hey, at least they got the pig back safely.