  The narrow optical filaments (`strings' or `spikes') emerging from the
Homunculus of Eta Carinae are modelled as resulting from the passage of
ballistic `bullets' of material through the dense circumstellar environment. In
this explanation, the string is the decelerating flow of ablated gas from the
bullet. An archive HST image and new forbidden line profiles of the most
distinct of the strings are presented and discussed in terms of this simple
model.
