The bat signal is a modified spotlight to project the iconic bat symbol into the sky or onto a building to contact and request the presence of Batman in the case of an emergency. The Obama signal above appears to indicate we are in an emergency and his assistance is needed to get us out of it.
Couple more pics here.
Which Carolina corrected in title, that's what I get for not reading the comments soon enough. And I was sooo good in geography in grade school!! ::sigh::
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