In the film Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly travels to the year 2015 and finds himself surrounded by technology that seems possible only in science fiction. Now it appears those fictional inventions may be closer than we think. With self-lacing sneakers slated for release later this year, and wearable technology already available to the masses, the latest addition to this lineup is a real, working hoverboard.

Guinness World Records recently confirmed, to the delight of science fiction fans everywhere, Romanian-born inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru’s impressive achievement of the longest recorded hoverboard flight. The distance to beat was a daunting 50 meters, however Guinness recorded the official distance Duru remained aloft as 275.9 meters, more than 5 times further than the previous record.

While the video documenting the feat was posted to the Guinness World Records official YouTube channel on May 22, the attempt itself took place in August of 2014. The device was designed, fabricated, and piloted by Duru, and required a full 12 months to create.

“I will showcase that stable flight can be achieved with a machine one can stand on and control with their feet,” Duru stated prior to takeoff. He proved this hypothesis by hovering approximately 5m above the surface of Lake Ouareau in Lanaudiere, Quebec and traveling a distance equal to nearly three football fields.

The full capabilities of the hoverboard have not yet been tested, with Duru himself suggesting the ability to achieve ‘scary heights’ as something that merits further exploration.

Back to the Future Part II was never intended to be an accurate prediction of the future, with director Robert Zemekis stating, “Rather than trying to make a scientifically sound prediction that we were probably going to get wrong anyway, we figured, let’s just make it funny.” But with so many accurate predictions about the world of 2015, are time-traveling Deloreans really so fetched after all?

What sci-fi inspired gadgets are you most looking forward to getting your hands on?