Slog Comments
1.5 Million Balloon Launch: Cleveland, Ohio 1986
3
@1 - Yeah, but it's Cleveland. How could they anticipate that anyone would notice a slight increase in garbage?
4
Why are we going to run out of Helium in 25 years again? Oh right- Because of bullshit like this. Who needs superconductors anyway..?
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At first, I thought what @1 said. Then I thought what @4 said. Then I thought "Around the world in 30 minutes? Holy shit that takes me back."
10
Reminds me of a fundraiser we'd have at my elementary school every year. We'd release a bunch of balloons with instructions to mail back some details about where they ended up. It was fun to see how far away some of them ended up. But yeah, 1.5 million is crazy and that's a lot of helium we can't get back.
11
Wow, the screaming and giant smoke-like mass of balloons instantly reminded me of 9/11. Anyone else get that or do I need to up my meds?
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My parents have a picture of this event that they framed and is still hanging in our house, in the garage I think. Cool to see the video.
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...And so began the great toilet paper shortage of '86
Taco Bell created the world's longest burrito (320 feet!), chopped it up, and sold it to raise more money for the United Way.
...And so began the great toilet paper shortage of '86
14
In the early '60s I was a 1st and 2nd grader in what was then West Germany. We had a day each year when we would write messages of friendship that were tied to balloons which we then released in hopes of them floating over the stretch of the Iron Curtain which ran near our base. The idea being that some balloon deprived East German child would realize that Communism wasn't so great. The Wall did come down, so those balloons obviously worked.
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