In 1986, Cleveland proved once and for
all that balloons, held by most of us to be a symbol of festivities and
celebration, can also serve as surreal and terrifying proof that there
can be too much of a good thing.
It all started with the superficially
awesome but fundamentally disastrous goal of setting the world record
for simultaneously-released helium balloons. Photographer Thom Sheridan
captured images of this beautiful but eventually catastrophic event.
This feat, which involved filling 1.5 million latex balloons with helium
and capturing them under a massive net, was dubbed Balloonfest ’86. It
was organized by United Way as a sort of charity event, but the
unexpectedly chaotic event wound up causing more in damages than it
raised.
For one, there were storms forecast later in the day, so the event’s
organizers wound up releasing the balloons early. When the rain did
come, it wet the balloons and caused them to descend without popping.
They ended up covering the surface of Lake Erie and hampering the
Coast Guard’s search efforts for two men who had been lost on the lake
after their boat capsized. They were later found dead. The floating
balloons made finding the head of someone fighting to stay above water
impossible.
