The first video that can be found below pretty much says it all so I'm not sure there's much to add here. The model is suspended from a branch where the line goes through a clip smoothly and comes back down and is tied off to a lower branch close by. There's another line from the top of the model straight into your hand which you use to control it. You could put the line into the edge of the model to maintain angles while stopped but I didn't bother. I got what I was looking for by tying onto the top. You pull and let go with your right hand and tug the suspension line with your left elbow to create bobbing.
I had a look at the original footage again after so many years and wrote down the kind of movements I expected to create. I guess it went well but it does take practice to make the movements smooth and controlled. I think I went a bit further than Meier in the sense of making the swings more wild with greater arcs. His film seems a little tame compared to mine. The model behaved as expected and I hung it from a bendy branch on purpose. i could have chosen the more solid branch but I was looking for the bobbing movement which can be recreated with the random swaying of the branch in a slight wind. That's exactly what I got but I did have to tug on the line sometimes to bob it when i thought it needed it and could use my left elbow to do that as if I was meier with a partial left arm.
Another added bonus with the branches I used was a twig that got in the way if the swing was large. The line moved over this twig at certain points before moving off it creating a height change in the swing of the model which can be seen clearly in the film as it swings wide and fast. Most of Meier's movements look controlled in that he was slowing it down alot and not letting it go wild. The camera I used was about 12 feet from the model which was suspended about 18 feet up and is 13" wide. You only have to stand on the left of camera to control every movement and of course this is why in Meier's film the ship is to the left of frame - to make sure he doesn't show up in his own film. You'd expect it to be in the centre of frame of course which shows deliberate, calculated, misdirection on Meier's part.
The other issue I have with Meier's film is the weather. If it was sunny the line suspending the model would definitely show up at some point in the swing because the angle keeps changing relative to the sun. It had to be filmed under cloud cover to guarantee hiding the line. Notice that in every other prominent Meier film the sky is blue. His film smacks of deliberate hoaxing at every turn.
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