Published on: January 23, 2026, 07:21h. 

Updated on: January 20, 2026, 10:12h.

Welcome to the singular Vegas myth we inadvertently perpetuated, rather than debunked. On December 30, we published an article asserting that elephants once soared from the ceilings of Circus Circus. That tale was pure fantasy.

We could mention that we relied on a credible source—none other than the daughter of Circus Circus founder Jay Sarno—who insisted that elephants did indeed once fly there. We might highlight our track record of debunking 130 Las Vegas myths that lacked factual support. We could also note that our story was up for just three days before we issued a correction.

However, we won’t dwell on that. Instead, we come to you with humility, offering our sincere apologies not just to those we misled but also to the 100K viewers of the “Miles to Memories” and “Turn It Up World” vlogs that featured our original story.

Despite being experts in recognizing how easily fabrications can circulate about Las Vegas, we evidently had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Let’s start from the beginning…

When Elephants Soared

“According to various accounts, a brief publicity stunt featured baby elephants transported around the casino via an overhead tram, creating the illusion of flight,” states the Wikipedia entry for Circus Circus, concerning its inaugural days in 1968.

We have developed quite the skill in identifying myths, and this seemed like the prime target for our scrutiny via that airborne tram.

Of Wikipedia’s three references for this assertion, only one verified that the stunt actually took place. (The other two expressed doubt.) On February 7, 1999, the Las Vegas Review-Journal published this article about Circus Circus founder Jay Sarno, a modern P.T. Barnum, in which reporter Kevin J. Evans casually mentioned in passing 25 paragraphs in…

“A live pink elephant ‘flew’ around the casino on sort of an overhead tram.”

That was the entirety of the account. No further details. No joke.

For one, even baby elephants still seem quite heavy to us. Why would any casino operator want to suspend one 80 feet above patrons they’re trying to convert into repeat customers? Even if Babar didn’t flatten any, dodging falling elephant waste wouldn’t exactly make for a delightful evening out.

More importantly, there isn’t a single known photo of this supposed publicity stunt. Since the advent of photography, publicity stunts are typically well-documented. A lack of images shifts this from a publicity stunt to mere college folklore.

A Swing and a Myth

We weren’t the first to attempt debunking this tale as a myth. One of Wikipedia’s other citations pointed to a column by our late friend Robin Leach, the former host of TV’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” who spent his later years as a Las Vegas entertainment reporter.

“Were there flying elephants at Circus Circus back in the day?” Leach headlined this 2011 Las Vegas Sun column. (And if you didn’t read that with a proper British accent, do yourself a favor and revisit it with that perspective. We’ll wait…)

Leach had heard the tale from Las Vegas author Jack Sheehan and, like us, dismissed it as nonsense.

He reached out to Elaine Wynn, who clearly recalled the early times at Circus Circus but had no memories of airborne pachyderms, pink or otherwise.

Leach then enlisted his associate at the Las Vegas News Bureau to scour archives for evidence. Darrin Bush found numerous photographs of Tanya, the earthbound 4,000 lb. Asian elephant who pulled slot machine handles, rolled dice with her trunk, and even “called” Keno to the excitement of audiences. (Her slot machine act was featured in the 1971 James Bond movie, “Diamonds Are Forever.”)

Sadly, no photos of the flying baby elephants surfaced—none whatsoever.

“Jack must have misheard it into a golf story,” Bush concluded to Leach, who ended his column by inviting any readers with concrete info to step forward.

Leach never followed up, so we surmise he didn’t resolve the mystery and moved on to less significant topics. (Because all matters pale in comparison to this one!) In homage to our late friend, we picked up the investigation 13 years later.

Debunking the Myth

We managed to obtain the email addresses of all four of Sarno’s children and inquired about the flying pink elephants.

Regrettably, none replied, but our determination remained strong. We found a 1971 program detailing the acts at Circus Circus. A blurb on “The Cage Girls” caught our attention, mentioning four go-go dancers who performed “while suspended from an aerial tram.”

Interesting. This suggests a possible explanation for how the alleged pink baby elephants supposedly flew. Were we inching closer to the reality, or were we simply gathering pieces for yet another urban legend?

Next, I uncovered an interview from before the opening with Sarno, where he promised “two little pink elephants you could ride … or pet” at the grand debut on October 18, 1968.

Month-old baby elephants typically weigh between 300-450 lbs. That’s less than the combined weight of The Cage Girls and the clown they performed beneath in the adjacent photo.

Hmm. The pieces seemed to be aligning. Still, without photographic evidence of one of the most visually striking events purportedly to have occurred, we remained noncommittal, just like Leach had been.

“It sounds too incredible to be real,” he wrote in 2011, “but in the golden days of Vegas, anything was conceivable.”

Could someone have mistaken the illusions of The Cage Girls for Sarno’s pink baby elephants while trying to recall the airborne spectacle after a few too many drinks at the bar?

Pink elephants are literally what people hallucinate.

That’s when the magic unfolded, the kind we live for. Heidi Straus, Sarno’s youngest child, eventually responded to our inquiry.

“It’s true, Corey!” she replied. “Not sure if the elephant was pink, but I can affirm it required a diaper during its flight.”

We didn’t even think to mention the falling waste in our original message; she included that on her own accord.

Even with a diaper, gamblers below didn’t consider getting hit by a flying elephant’s droppings as good fortune.

“They weren’t particularly thrilled about what was happening overhead, and the attraction ended as swiftly as it began,” Straus noted.

As for how nobody figured this out before any elephants were lifted, Straus shared a quote that reflects her father’s philosophy…

“How would we know unless we tried it?”

Breaking News!!!!

Just three days after we published our article, we received a message from Mike Hartzell. He claimed to have been the ringmaster, later the director of entertainment, at Circus Circus for 28 years. We validated this with our friend Mike Weatherford, who used Hartzell as a source for numerous Las Vegas Review-Journal pieces.

“The Flying Elephant didn’t actually fly,” Hartzell disputed Straus’s claims. “I worked there from the opening, and yes, it was promoted, and yes, a platform was built for the elephant. However, during a test run, the poor baby became panicked after being lifted off the stage, and it was feared that the animal’s anxiety would damage the equipment that raised it above the platform.”

“For safety concerns, the idea was scrapped.”

It appears Straus wasn’t old enough to witness the flying elephant and only heard about it later. (Just because a source is reliable doesn’t mean their account is always valid.)

And this clarifies why no photographs exist.

Robin, dear friend, consider this case officially closed. Not unlike the egg now spread across our faces!

Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. Click here to explore previously debunked Vegas myths. Have a suggestion for a myth that needs investigating? Email [email protected].