Revisiting Lance Burton’s 1999 Television Special Top Secret

 A stealth bomber disappears, a magician faces an approaching roller coaster, and a Las Vegas theatre becomes the setting for an impossible appearance. Lance Burton, Master Magician: Top Secret brought those ideas together in Burton’s third television special.

The program aired on NBC on February 24, 1999, at 9 p.m. Eastern, according to contemporary listings preserved by MagicTimes. It followed Burton’s earlier specials, The Legend Begins and The Encounter, expanding the television audience for a performer already established as a Las Vegas headliner.

One of the special’s headline illusions involves the disappearance of a B-2 stealth bomber. Advance coverage described the aircraft as surrounded by military personnel, giving the presentation an additional condition for viewers to consider: an enormous object apparently vanishes while people are watching its surroundings.

Another advertised highlight brought the magic inside Burton’s theatre at the Monte Carlo, where he appeared on a chandelier suspended over the audience. That setting makes the theatre itself part of the effect, extending the performance beyond the stage.

The broadcast also featured an escape involving The Desperado roller coaster at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, Nevada. In coverage published on the day of the NBC broadcast, reporter Robert Macy described Burton being shackled to the tracks and escaping as the coaster approached. The sequence uses the approaching ride to give the audience a visible deadline.

The uploaded recording also features actress Hunter Tylo, with the video description identifying smaller-scale material including a floating candle. Those moments give the special a broader range than its most heavily promoted illusions alone might suggest.

By the time American viewers saw Top Secret, Burton’s Monte Carlo production had been running since 1996. His official biography places the special within a television career that included repeated appearances with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, alongside his own NBC productions.

That background gives the recording historical interest. It captures a period when Burton was building television specials alongside an established theatre show. The advertised effects offered striking images for a broadcast, while the Monte Carlo material connected viewers with his work before a live audience.

Viewing note: This upload includes commercials.  The the roller coaster segment has been heavily edited, so this copy does not preserve that sequence in its original form.