Like many of us, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, believed that balloons were utterly harmless. In 1986, organizers spent six months planning Balloonfest, a publicity stunt intended to raise funds for a local charity branch. However, in their quest to break a world record, the spectacle spun out of control, resulting in widespread death and destruction...
Harmless Publicity Stunt
On September 27, 1986, approximately 1.5 million balloons were released into the atmosphere above the city of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a well-intentioned attempt to break a Guinness World Record—but what began as a fundraising stunt soon evolved into widespread chaos.
Lives Were Lost
It took six months to prepare for the spectacle, which had been designed to attract as much attention as possible. Unfortunately, the organizers of Balloonfest '86 had no idea the toll their publicity stunt was about to take not only upon the city of Cleveland but its residents as well—two of whom didn't make it out alive.
Charity Collaboration
In 1986, Cleveland was attempting to rebrand as a hip, up-and-coming urban paradise. The city's United Way branch proposed an unconventional method of drumming up buzz: They wanted to set a world record that would double as a fundraising event for the nonprofit network.
The Bar Was High
At the time, the record for Biggest Simultaneous Balloon Launch was held by Disneyland, which had been established one year prior at the park's 30th anniversary. Thus, the planning began. Balloonfest would raise funds for the local branch of United Way while drawing attention to the city's changing image.
Six Months of Planning
The stunt was coordinated by a company based out of L.A., Balloonart by Treb, headed by a man named Treb Heining. Once planning was underway, it took half a year for the event organizers to make United Way's dream a reality.
They Thought It Would Work
In order to contain the balloons, the team constructed a gigantic receptacle the size of a city block in Cleveland's Public Square. It towered over the city, standing 250 feet by 150 feet, three stories tall. The structure was enclosed in a single layer of woven mesh.
High Hopes
"A lot of technical research and research through the city permits, it's endless. It's absolutely astonishing to try to get something like this off," said Treb Heining, the man behind the impending disaster. "This is a prime example of what United Way is trying to do in terms of saying, 'Cleveland, it's your time.' It's time to say yes. It's time to say it is a happening city. We are on the move. It's no longer the butt of jokes."
Day of the Launch
Of the 2,500 Balloonfest volunteers, most were students. In preparation for the event, they spent the entire morning of September 27, 1986 pumping helium into balloons. The media swarmed Public Square, interviewing organizers, participants, and observers alike. In only a few short hours, catastrophe would strike.
On the Assembly Line
"It was like an assembly line, non-stop," said Mandy Basel, a volunteer who was 16 at the time. "I was a tier. I was not a very good tier before the event, but after a while, I could do it with my eyes closed. It didn’t take long to get good at it. And fast—20 seconds a balloon."
Storm on the Horizon
A storm was encroaching, meaning that organizers were forced to execute the release earlier than planned. At 1:50 p.m., a behemoth stream of rainbow balloons was sent spiraling into the sky. The crowd cheered in amazement as a local radio D.J. declared, "There is no 'mistake on the lake' anymore—Cleveland has now broken the Guinness Book of World Records and released over 1,500,000 balloons!"
Something Wasn't Right
It was anticipated by organizers that the balloons, which were filled with helium, would stay in the air for a period of time before falling back to the ground, deflated. Unfortunately, they were wrong. The storm began, and with it a cold front—the balloons began to descend while still inflated.
Major Distraction
Motorists on the highway were so distracted by the millions of balloons floating overhead that they crashed their cars. Streets and waterways were clogged with balloons; the nearby airport had to shut down due to the number of balloons obscuring the runway.
Tragedy Strikes
The most devastating outcome of Balloonfest took place on Lake Erie. The day prior, two men, Raymond Broderick and Bernard Sulzer, had gone out fishing. They never made it home alive.
Missing Men
When the men failed to return, their families reported them missing to the local authorities. Rescuers had gone out to the lake on the morning of Balloonfest, where their empty boat was found anchored west of the Edgewater Park breakwater.
Impeded Search
A Coast Guard search and helicopter rescue crew were sent to look for the two men, but as balloons continued to litter the lake, their efforts became thoroughly impeded. They had trouble reaching the area due to the "asteroid field" of balloons.
Lost in the Water
"It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack," stated one of the authorities conducting the search. "You're looking for, more or less, a head or an orange life jacket, and here you have a couple hundred thousand orange balloons. It's just hard to decipher which is which."
Title
The Coast Guard suspended their search two days later. Shortly afterward, the men's bodies washed up onshore. One of their wives then sued the United Way of Cleveland, as well as the organizers of Balloonfest, for $3.2 million.
More Consequences
That wasn't the only lawsuit faced by United Way of Cleveland. A mass of balloons landed on a pasture in Medina County, Ohio, terrifying a herd of Arabian horses, who suffered permanent injuries related to the incident. The owner of the horses, Louise Nowakowski, sued for $100,000 in damages.
Biodegradable... Sort Of
The balloons were technically biodegradable, but that didn't make clean-up much easier. It took several months for the balloons to break down. A man from Ontario, Canada complained about the environmental nuisance, stating, "These balloons, being made of plastic, are not readily biodegradable and, thus, will create an eyesore for some time to come, or else be an unnecessary and time-consuming expense for someone to clean up."
Balloonfest Made History
The city of Cleveland garnered plenty of attention from their publicity stunt—for all the wrong reasons. Balloonfest did succeed in breaking the record, and the event was featured in 1988's Guinness Book of World Records. However, in 1994, the record was broken once again when 1.7 million balloons were released in Hillshire, England, meaning that Cleveland's grand gesture was all for naught. Cleveland wasn't the only city to cause a manmade environmental disaster...
Pepsi Fruit Juice Flood
On April 25, 2017, 176,000 barrels of fruit and vegetable juice were released into the streets of Lebedyan, Russia. The 28-million liters of juice came from a Pepsi facility, the roof of which had collapsed unexpectedly. Fortunately, although the liquid flooded into the Don River, minimal environmental damage occurred.
Great Molasses Flood of 1919
On January 15, 1919, a "sweet, sticky death" poured from a burst storage tank in Boston. A tide of molasses 40 feet high and 160 feet wide washed through the streets at 35 miles per hour. The molasses solidified due to the cold winter temperatures, destroying anything in its path.
Empire State Building Plane Crash
On July 28, 1945, a plane headed for LaGuardia Airport got lost in the dense morning fog of New York City. Air traffic control instructed the plane to land in Newark instead. The low-flying plane narrowly avoided the Chrysler builder—instead, it crashed into the Empire State Building, killing 11 people.
The Gates of Hell
In 1971, while searching for an oil field site in Turkmenistan, Soviet engineers came across a natural gas field. Concerned about the release of poisonous gases into nearby villages, the engineers decided to burn off the gas. They expected the process to take no longer than a few weeks, but the gas has continued to burn for over four decades with no end in sight.
Lake Peigneur
On November 20, 1980, a Texaco oil rig accidentally drilled into a salt mine under Lake Peigneur in Louisiana. The mistake caused a whirlpool to form in the lake, which sucked in the drilling platform, 11 barges, 65 acres of land, and countless trees. Shockingly, nobody died—the workers were able to escape thanks to a well-designed evacuation plan.
Centralia Mine Fire
The Centralia mine fire has lasted from May of 1962 until the present day. All those years ago, a fire was lit near a coal mine in Centralia, Pennsylvania; although the town did their best to extinguish the flames, the fire continued to burn along the coal-rich deposits, eventually making its way into the mines. The citizens of Centralia were forced to evacuate the area, and the fire is still burning today.
Bhopal Disaster
On December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, accidentally released 30 tons of poisonous gas. 5,000 people succumbed to the fumes initially, and the disaster claimed an additional 20,000 lives over time. More than 600,000 people were exposed in total. It is regarded as the worst industrial chemical tragedy in history.
London's Killer Fog
At the height of the industrial revolution, London was one of the most prosperous areas, relying heavily on coal to power its homes and factories. However, during a particularly frigid winter in 1952, residents burned more coal than usual. The sky became so polluted that a black cloud formed over the entire city, shrouding it in darkness. Over 12,000 people died as a result.
Chernobyl
On April 26, 1986, a nuclear reactor caused a horrific explosion at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, releasing radiation 400 times more powerful than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Thousands of birth defects and cancer deaths have been linked to the disaster; radiation levels at the site remain high to this day.
Exxon Oil Spill
On March 24, 1989, between 260,000 and 750,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled into the ocean after the Exxon Valdez oil tanker crashed into Bligh reef. Researchers have dubbed the event one of the most destructive manmade disasters in history. Hundreds of thousands of animals died, including seabirds, otters, seals, bald eagles, orcas, and fish.