The Doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of '86

The Atlantic Festival 2022 is here! Join the event on YouTube: youtube.com/c/AtlanticLIVEvideo

1986 was also the year of Chernobyl, the space shuttle challenger explosion and the year I was born. All disasters.

environment has left the chat.

The classic line "Just because we can, doesn't mean we should" fits well here.

I love how the guy says, "It is a happening city, we are on the move, it's no longer the butt of jokes" and because of this, Cleveland became even more of a butt of jokes. The wife of one of the fishermen ended up suing the United Way of Cleveland and the company that organized the balloon release for $3.2 million, and later settled on undisclosed terms. The balloons also landed on someone's pasture and spooked a farmer's Arabian horses which led to the horses having permanent injuries. The farmer sued United Way of Cleveland as well for 100K in damages and settled on undisclosed terms. The balloons even caused traffic collisions! Drivers swerved to avoid the slow-motion blizzards of the balloons or took their eyes off the road to gawk at the overhead spectacle. Motorists on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway ran into fences and each other before the roadway was shut down. A bulldozer was actually needed to help clear away all the balloons!

lol, reporter says they're not sure where the balloons went, but "at least they're not posing any threat to fish and wildlife." does she think the balloons just magically disappeared?

Cleveland: 1.5 million balloons Earth: Can you don't

“There is no mistake on the lake anymore!” Created world record-breaking mistake

I'm an avid hiker, and I make it a point to carry a trash bag in my backpack wherever I go so that I can pick up trash on and around the trails I hike as I come back from wherever I was going. Balloons are by far the most often picked up trash items that I find. It's not even close. Thanks Cleveland.

this is like something you'd see on the Simpsons

They probably thought the balloons would end up in space.

The fact that an entire city thought this was a good idea is just astounding. would have never guessed those balloons would ever come down to earth. Incredibly unpredictable.

That "there is no mistake on the lake anymore, CLEVELAND!" made me chuckle

This was one of the most idiotic human events ever recorded.

Pollution 101

Imagine being a pilot flying a jet plane at that very moment and a swarm of balloons are now in your way in the air because of Balloonfest '86!

This was a fundraiser for United Way but ended up costing them more than they got, plus two lawsuits, one for the fishermen and one for injured horses who got spooked. They actually thought that "the balloons would reach an altitude where they popped and disintegrated.". Burke Lakefront Airport had to shut down as well as Cleveland Memorial Shoreway because of accidents. Guinness did actually recognize it in 1988 but they took it out after that because of the huge negative impact it had and stopped accepting that type of world records.

2:32 "Our friends in LA think we're nuts." They're not wrong.

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

My family and I lived in Hamilton, Ontario and in those days we would have had no idea about the balloon launch in Cleveland. We did see several balloons in the sky over our city but really thought nothing of it. We then heard on the local radio news that people were reporting seeing balloons, and it was mentioned about the balloons from the launch making their way to Canada.