We’ve watched the clip a dozen times and we still can’t tell how the trick was performed.

While blanket bans on indoor smoking in public places are yet to become a reality in Japan, non-smokers are provided some relief with enclosed smoking spaces, which are a common sight in stations and shopping centres around the country. For one smoker, who goes by the Twitter name @FustDrift, an encounter in one of Japan’s indoor smoking rooms unveiled a mesmerising magic act, with a mysterious stranger putting on a gravity-defying display that involved levitating a paper cup and even the half-smoked, lit cigarette of the person filming the scene.

▼ Check out the mind-bending clip below.

While the floating paper cup is impressive, it’s not hard to imagine that thin strings or near-invisible rubber bands might somehow be involved in the illusion. But when he turns his attention to the lit cigarette, we’re stumped as to how he got it to float.

Not only does he wave his hand above and below the cigarette, he appears to make it float even higher by gesturing with his right hand beside it. And for true showmanship, he uses the cigarette of the person filming the clip, while his own cigarette hangs casually from the side of his mouth the whole time!

Since the clip was posted on Twitter a few days ago, it’s received more than 50,000 likes and retweets, with many people trying to solve the mystery behind the levitating objects.

“Wow – this is amazing! He must have some sort of extra-sensory ability.”

“Is he doing this with magnets?”

“He’s attaching it to a string and someone above is moving it. Camera guy probably in on it.”

“I can’t see any strings. I prefer to believe that this guy is an alien.”

“This man must have practised for years. He’s really skilled at the art of illusion.”

Some Twitter users even posted links to YouTube tutorials revealing behind-the-scenes tips showing how to make objects appear to levitate. However, none of them showed how to levitate a burning object. How do you think the trick was performed? Let us know in the comments section below!

Source, images: Twitter/@FustDrift