Staff Writer
MONTICELLO — If you see a bright light pointing straight in the sky, don’t worry, it’s not a close encounter of the third kind, it’s just a touch of Hollywood.
Allan Weiner is a small business owner who recently acquired an 800 million candlepower searchlight, which he is now offering to rent out for highlighted events as the Maine Searchlight Company. Weiner has been in the business of searchlights before and he thought it would be an ideal addition to the county.
“It was a World War II anti-aircraft searchlight,” he explained. “It’s about 60 inches in diameter. I can literally walk inside the thing.
“It runs on a 15,000 watt carbon arc and it produces a beam at night that sometimes can be seen for up to 20 miles.”
The light can be used for grand openings, car shows, parties, festivals — it’s used for any event where somebody wants to attract a lot of people from all over the area. Weiner said they’re a “mechanical marvel.”
“The searchlights were built by General Electric for the Army and they were used in World War II to illuminate aircraft up in the sky,” he explained. “So the anti-aircraft guns could see them and shoot them down. That was before the days of radar.”
Following the war, the lights were dismantled and converted to be used as they are today — entertainment attraction.
“These searchlights are like a moth to a light bulb, where they go they draw a lot of people,” said Weiner. “This is the only searchlight of its kind north of Boston.”
Maine Searchlight Company has only been operating for the past month, and so far, the feedback from throughout the county has been good.
“We did some tests and people from Mars Hill reported seeing a big beam of light coming from Monticello,” he said. 
LIGHT — This Hollywood searchlight is being offered to showcase events throughout the county. It is owned by Maine Searchlight Company in Monticello. Owner Allan Weiner recently purchased the light from a company in Boston. He’s hoping the business will attract people from all over the county.
Weiner says the searchlight can be seen on his Web site at www.mainesearchlight.com, or they can call 538-9810.
“This is a labor of love,” said Weiner. “I’d like people to look up into the sky — if you see a big beam, you might think it’s a UFO, it’s just one of the most powerful lights in the world doing its thing.”
