The dinosaur helicopter rides from New York to Boston that brought the cities to a standstill
- In New York in 1984, a bunch of dinosaurs flew over the city
- They were traveling from New York to Boston to their new home
- Some went by barge and some were suspended from a helicopter
Published on May 27, 2025 at 1:53 AM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on May 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
In 1984, a T.Rex and some of his jurassic friends took a helicopter ride from New York to Boston and it was an extremely confusing show for casual onlookers.
Of course you would assume that some sort of invasion was happening because at that point Jurassic Park hadn’t even hit cinemas yet.
There was no better way to transport the giant life-sized model dinosaurs from the 1964 World’s Fair to the Boston Museum of Science.
Some travelled on an open barge, but the biggest ones like the diplodocus were suspended by wire from the bottom of a helicopter as they flew over the city for the first time in 145 million years.
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How would you feel if you were enjoying a day out in New York City, but then a helicopter carrying a humongous life-sized T.Rex model flew overhead?
That was the experience for New Yorkers in 1984 when some life-sized dinosaur models were being transported from the 1964 World’s Fair to a more permanent home at the Boston Museum of Science.
Some of the smaller dinosaurs were carried on a long secure barge down the Hudson river and a triceratops and a stegosaurus took in their adoring fans who flocked to see the dino river parade.
The biggest dinos got to travel by air suspended beneath a helicopter, which has led to the now infamous pictures of a brontosaurus silhouetted against New York City’s iconic skyline.
Nine years before dinosaurs really hit the big screen in Jurassic Park, people might have struggled to understand quite what was going on.
The barge at least had an advert on it to explain what was happening, reading: “Sinclair dinosaurs on way to N.Y. World’s Fair,” but the helicopters got many more eyes on them.
Imagine that excuse at work: “Sorry I was late, I had to fight through a crowd of people watching a T.Rex take a helicopter ride.”
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Daisy Edwards is a Content Writer at supercarblondie.com. Daisy has more than five years’ experience as a qualified journalist, having graduated with a History and Journalism degree from Goldsmiths, University of London and a dissertation in vintage electric vehicles. Daisy specializes in writing about cars, EVs, tech and luxury lifestyle. When she's not writing, she's at a country music concert or working on one of her many unfinished craft projects.
