On Thu, 4 Jun 2009 20:30:31 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

Hmmmm, I found a web site where you can buy shotgun shells that fire
everyhting from slugs to pyrotechnics. So, why not a corner cube
unfolding radar reflector launched from a 12 guage flare gun for day
use? Give it a parachute and it'd fall slowly enough to be maybe
seen..

They have this. It is called chaff, tiny threads of aluminized mylar.
Some planes can cut the stuff to the tuned length, which varies.
It falls very slowly, maybe slower that a parachute, depending.

Casady