TIL that in 1986, the city of #Cleveland put on a big event where people could come downtown and fill balloons with helium.
They filled 1,500,000 balloons. Then let them all go at once.
The video thumbnail calls it a disaster. However, at least according to the aftermath that is covered, that’s an overstatement.
Just watching the release of all the balloons was genuinely jaw dropping for me. Almost looks like CGI.
6 minute #YouTube from @TheAtlantic
@chartier @TheAtlantic helium is in short supply, and is required for scientific and engineering purposes. The event was an ecological disaster, lovely though it may have been to watch.
“I love watching us destroy what sustains us?”
@chartier @TheAtlantic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloonfest_%2786 people drowned because of it.
@VWDasher @TheAtlantic This ridiculous event was, indeed, ridiculous. But based on the timeline from news coverage in this video and Wikipedia's cited records, it sounds like this event did *not* lead to those fishermen drowning:
"Roger Rice, Search and Rescue Program Manager for Coast Guard District 9, said in a 2024 interview that "Balloonfest did not have anything to do with the unfortunate deaths of both these men"."
They set out the night before the event.
@chartier @TheAtlantic I knew about this but never saw the video. It didn’t even look pretty. It looked like some sci-fi virus wending its way around the city.
