Brazilian Priest carried aloft by balloons goes missing?

[CougarKing]

Ummm okay...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24244282/

Priest carried aloft by balloons missing
Fund-raising stunt goes awry, but supporters hopeful
The Associated Press
updated 1:48 p.m. PT, Mon., April. 21, 2008
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons was missing Monday off the southern coast of Brazil.

Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats were searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found.

Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon, wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute.

He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials, according to the treasurer of his Sao Cristovao parish, Denise Gallas.

Gallas said by telephone that the priest wanted to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers in Paranagua, Brazil's second-largest port for agricultural products.

Some American adventurers have used helium balloons to emulate Larry Walters -- who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons.

A video of Carli posted on the G1 Web site of Globo TV showed the smiling 41-year-old priest slipping into a flight suit, being strapped to a seat attached to a huge column green, red, white and yellow balloons, and soaring into the air to the cheers of a crowd.

According to Gallas, the priest soared to an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) then descended to about 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) for his planned flight to the city of Dourados, 465 miles (750 kilometers) northwest of his parish.

But winds pushed him in another direction, and Carli was some 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast when he last contacted Paranagua's port authority, Gallas said.

Carli had a GPS device, a satellite phone, a buoyant chair and is an experienced skydiver, Gallas said.

"We are absolutely confident he will be found alive and well, floating somewhere in the ocean," she said.

"He knew what he was doing and was fully prepared for any kind of mishap."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

 

[Yrys]

I loved the colours of the balloons , but he didn't seems to have any way to affect his direction/height ...

Priest on party-balloons flight goes missing

 

[ghyslyn]

this seems as an extremely unlikely story as it takes about 3000 fully filled balloons to carry a 65 pound child.

edit: my mistake, just saw it on video on the news, apparently the balloons were considerably bigger than those we know of.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

this seems as an extremely unlikely story as it takes about 3000 fully filled balloons to carry a 65 pound child.

Maybe it was one of these! http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/73237/post-704521.html#msg704521

Opps, sorry. That's not a balloon. ;D

 

[Yrys]

They made a clip about it on CTB News. Lloyd Robertson had a smile at the lecture of the intro of the news
(watching the sky not for weather byt for flying priest) ...

add :

'Flying' priest's balloons found

 

[1feral1]

Ole Lloyd! Crickey, he must be 80!

I can remember when he was on the CBC 11pm news.

What about Harvey Kirk? They were co anchoring the CTV news in the 90s, or was it earlier?

I reckon I am dating myself.

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Actually I think Lloyd is dead and they prop him up to do the news and somenone pulls on strings to make his arms move. HA ha ha, just kidding.  But, he does LOOK dead. 
And as far as dating yourself, you are!  Hopefully, you mean as in 'gettin' old', and not as in 'would you like to go out sometime?'
Cuz, that would just be weird

 

[PMedMoe]

Ole Lloyd! Crickey, he must be 80!

I can remember when he was on the CBC 11pm news.

What about Harvey Kirk? They were co anchoring the CTV news in the 90s, or was it earlier?

I reckon I am dating myself.

Harvey Kirk died in 2002.  CBC Radio.  Scroll down to obituary.
I do recall Harvey being absent from work very often, if I'm not mistaken, he had a drinking problem.

 

[1feral1]

Actually I think Lloyd is dead and they prop him up to do the news and somenone pulls on strings to make his arms move. HA ha ha, just kidding.  But, he does LOOK dead. 
And as far as dating yourself, you are!  Hopefully, you mean as in 'gettin' old', and not as in 'would you like to go out sometime?'
Cuz, that would just be weird

Hey EW, good one! I 'date' myself all to often,  ha!

I will be in Saskatchewan in August, and I will be watching the CTV news I am sure.

I enjoyed Harvey Kirk, sorry to see he met his end. 73 is young.

 

[Yrys]

I enjoyed Harvey Kirk, sorry to see he met his end. 73 is young.

Yes it is!

I've got a 76 years old friend, that keep telling me each time we see each other about who she knows that has died since the last time we saw each other...
She's to young to die ! I need her to stay alive at least another 30 years  :-\ !

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Body of ballooning Brazilian priest found at sea Wed Jul 30, 1:51 AM ET



RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The body of a Brazilian priest who floated out over the ocean suspended by hundreds of helium-filled party balloons, has been found off the coast of southeastern Brazil, police have confirmed.

The corpse of Father Adelir Antonio de Carli was spotted by a tugboat at sea near the city of Macae, three months after he disappeared while flying a contraption buoyed by balloons over the Atlantic Ocean in a fund-raising stunt.

"We were almost certain that it was the priest due to various elements, such as the clothes and material used in the balloon trip," Macae's chief of police, Daniel Bandeira, said on Monday. "The DNA only confirmed our suspicions."

The priest disappeared on April 20 after he called friends from his mobile phone to say he was about to crash into the ocean.

He staged the stunt to help raise money for a chapel for truckers in his highway parish.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)