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Hopes Fade For 'Party Balloon' Priest

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IvanVolle

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Hopes fade for 'party balloon' priest
April 23, 2008 08:17am

"HOPE are fading for a Brazilian priest who floated aloft tied to 1000 giant party balloons after several of the helium-filled globes were found floating at sea.

Father Adelir de Carli, 41, soared into the sky from the southeastern town of Paranagua on Sunday, sitting in a harnass attached to the white, red, yellow, green and pink balloons, and wearing a thermal outfit and helmet.

He was trying to draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers, and to enter Guinness World Records.

A known adventurer, he had already made a previous similar flight with 500 balloons in January that reportedly took him as high as 5000m.

But bad weather this time pushed his makeshift contraption out to sea off Brazil's southern coast, and in his last contact with police Sunday night he said he was encountering problems.

A search involving 50 people, several boats and helicopters and a coastguard plane yesterday ocated the cluster of balloons floating 150km from the area he had been expected to land, authorities said.

Parishioners in his church were praying for him, said a woman who worked with him on his truckers' initiative, Eliana Aparecida dos Santos.

Mr de Carli was an experienced skydiver, his brother Marcos de Carli told Globo television.

The priest was also "very obstinate'' and wanted to fly despite the poor weather, he said.

The balloons used in the feat were of the type commonly seen in Brazilian street parties - larger and with a thicker membrane than those used in small indoor private celebrations. "

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,23585171-5003402,00.html?from=public_rss

Link has video....
 
Well if he was lost to the waves, it's a mercy of a kind. Kids finding a thermally-clad dead priest in a tree surrounded by exploded coloured condoms would have been disappointed to find there was no prize. :(
 
Father Adelir De Carli is an anagram of HE CALLED FAT AIR RIDER.


I'll get me coat.
 
I remember listening to a New Year's Eve programme, way back in the 70's, on Radio Clyde. Billy Connolly was special guest. "Answer three simple questions and you could win a burial at sea, for the parish priest of your choice!"

He may still have been on drugs at the time and it was Hogmanay.

Looks like Fate finally took him up on it.

Or, was it, "... from the parish priest of your choice"? My memories a bit shaky on that one and it was Hogmanay.
 
Body of 'balloon priest' found
July 06, 2008

"THE body a Brazilian priest who floated off tied to 1000 giant party balloons has been recovered about 100 km off the Brazilian coast, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports .
Father Adelir de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with theparty balloons tied to a chair.

The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, DPA reports .

Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest but DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.

Father de Carli, 42, was trying to promote religion, draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers, and to enter Guinness World Records.

A known adventurer, he had already made a previous similar flight with 500 balloons in January that reportedly took him as high as 5000m.

But bad weather time pushed his makeshift contraption out to sea off Brazil's southern coast, and in his last contact with police he said he was encountering problems."

Article:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/stor ... 02,00.html
 
Bit sad. Knew it was coming, but sad anyway.

Have to admire his bravery and enterprise.

Perhaps they'll make him a Saint?
 
Patron Saint of Party-balloons




/..has a nice ring to it.
 
JamesWhitehead said:
..Kids finding a thermally-clad dead priest in a tree surrounded by exploded coloured condoms would have been disappointed to find there was no prize. :(
Click to expand...
But just think of the decades of material that would provide for a Jesuit debating society. Knocks Dawkins into a cocked hat :).

I'm still rather bemused by this bit, from the OP:
..He was trying to draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers...
Click to expand...
 
This chap had better luck:

US man makes balloon chair trip

An American man has succeeded at the third attempt in making a 235-mile (378km) trip in an armchair held aloft by party balloons.

Kent Couch soared across the Oregon desert to the neighbouring state of Idaho in a journey that took him about nine hours.

Mr Couch took an air gun and blow pipe to control his elevation.

He had to bail out by parachute on his first attempt and his second fell short of the state border.

Boyhood dream

Mr Couch, 48, said before getting into his chair on Saturday: "Things just look different from up there. You've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity."

He said he was fulfilling a boyhood dream: "Most guys look up in the sky and wish they could ride on a cloud."

Mr Couch took off buoyed by about 150 balloons.

"I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically," he said.

In addition to the blow pipe and air gun he took a pole to pull in balloons, a parachute, some GPS equipment and some eggs and chocolate.

He landed in a field near Cambridge, Idaho, to be welcomed by amazed locals.

Mr Couch estimated the cost of his flying machine at about $6,000 (£3,000).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7491841.stm
 
Mr Couch was indeed more successful and equipped with a GPS & we assume he knew how to use it. However, it seems the priest was also packing a GPS, he on the other hand did not know how to use it:

"His trip started on April 20 after a mass, and his last contact was a desperate attempt to learn how to use his GPS and communicate his position as the wind took him deep into the Atlantic Ocean.

"I need to contact someone who can teach me how to operate this GPS, so I can give the latitude and longitude coordinates, which is the only way that people on the ground can know where I am.""

Article with pictures & video:
http://gizmodo.com/5022283/flying-pries ... ll-missing
 
God positioning system still missing?

Do you think the Muslims could help with this? They always seem to know which way to point.

This is a good moral in learning how to use your equitment.

And didnt he have a mobile? Couldnt they have tracked him via that??

This is a tragic story. I only laughed a little.
 
Given the Catholic church's views on self assisted termination you have to wonder how the poor chap's final great reckoning went.

'...erm...sorry, say that again. You did WHAT?'
 
But this is still a delightful and aspiring story and I have no doubt a lot of money has been raised for his cause.

All we need to do is get it past the Campaign Against Aviation.
 
I'm genuinely and sincerely sorry that this man died.

But I can't escape the feeling that the needle on the World Intelligence Meter popped up a notch.
 
Body of ballooning priest found

DNA tests on a body found off Brazil's coast this month match that of a priest who went missing trying to set a flight record, the authorities say.

Father Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the Brazilian port city of Paranagua in April strapped to 1,000 brightly-coloured helium balloons.

The 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest wanted to raise money to build a shelter for local lorry drivers.

His attempt went wrong when unexpected winds carried him out to sea.

The body was discovered by chance earlier this month by tugboat workers.

Father Carli was attempting to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons.

Father Carli's bundle of brightly coloured balloons was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean off Santa Catarina state, near the point where he last made contact with authorities on the ground.

Father Carli had said he was having difficulty operating his GPS device, and was "very cold, but fine".

He was said to have reached an altitude of 20,000ft (6,000m), then descended to about 8,200ft for his planned flight to the city of Dourados.

But he was blown off course by winds. Before losing contact, he said he had to land in the sea as he was "losing height".

In January, the priest used the same mode of transport to fly over 110km (70 miles) in four hours between Parana and the nearby Argentine city of San Antonio.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7532254.stm
 
Its a shame the outcome on the priest was not a happy one, however he should of been taught how to use the gps device before he set off and been more prepared for every scenario that could of happened then maybe this culd of been avoided
 
Another guy who had better luck than the priest.

A British adventurer has flown 25km (15.5 miles) across South Africa suspended from 100 helium balloons.

Tom Morgan, from Bristol, reached heights of 8,000ft (2,438m) while strapped to a camping chair, in scenes reminiscent of the Pixar smash Up.

The 38-year-old spent two days inflating balloons ahead of the flight, which he described as "magical".

The challenge moved to South Africa on Friday after several failed attempts in Botswana.

"The problem was finding a good weather window and it was difficult to protect the balloons as they kept bursting," Mr Morgan said.

With just enough helium left for one more attempt, the adventurer and his team moved their base to just north of Johannesburg.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-41737642
 
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