Resh Lakish asked a question, "Do Temple vessels sanctify what's in them?" Answered Rabbi Yochanan, "We learned the rule that the vessels sanctify just as the Altar does!" But Resh Lakish was unconvinced, "That rule only tells me that the invalid substance in the vessel need not come down from the Altar if it was put there, but can I bring it there in the first place?"
If someone suspended invalid offering parts in the airspace above the Altar, may they remain and be burned on the pyre? - Since the ramp of the Altar sanctifies, and since a kohen would have to lift the sacrificial part in order to move it to the Altar, it must be that the airspace does not invalidate it! But this proof is not accepted, for perhaps the kohen drags it.
Art: Istvan Boldizsar - Slicing the Bread