1986 Cleveland Balloon Disaster
What a magnificent sight! Thousands upon thousands of balloons in a myriad of colors take to the sky. Buildings around you are completely engulfed by the multicolored mob of floating rubber before slowly drifting to the cloudy sky, dotting it like sprinkles on a cake. Then something strange happens, all the balloons begin to shoot back down.
Picture of the balloons filling the Cleveland sky, Courtesy of Derelict Doug
The Event
In the 1980s the city of Cleveland, Ohio was trying to attract positive attention after experiencing much turbulence throughout the 1970s. The city had lost over a quarter of its population, was plagued by bombings and shootings, factories closed and the lakes and rivers become practical cesspools. Now with much of that behind them Cleveland was on a mission to rebuild and rebrand itself and one way of doing so was by winning the “All American City” award, which it had already won three times in previous years of the 80s.
This particular year Cleveland partnered with the United Way of Greater Cleveland to hold a huge fundraiser for development projects. For the fundraiser they planned to break the world record for the most balloons released at once, the current record holder being Anaheim, California who released 1.2 million balloons. People sold sponsorships for the United Way where $1 equaled two balloons and with the idea becoming concrete they generated much positive press who were ecstatic to see the event.
Balloons being held back by the net. Below you can see volunteers filling the balloons. Courtesy of Goodfullness
On September 25 volunteers began filling up balloons with helium and worked through the 26 and through the night into the 27. By the 26 thousands of people volunteered to help fill balloons, the average person filling and releasing 2-3 balloons a minute. It took 46 hours to inflate all of them with some volunteers working so long that their fingers developed blisters from tying the balloons. The mass of floating rubber hovered over Cleveland’s Public Square, being held back by a large net until the moment of release.
Another view of the balloons being held by the net, Courtesy of Gizmodo
Finally in the early afternoon of the 27 the nearly 1.5 million balloons were released! They slowly floated skyward and completely engulfed Terminal Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Cleveland. Eyewitnesses described the scene as surreal with the balloons looking like giant confetti in the sky. The multicolored balloons made a beautiful sight and filled the whole crowd with glee. Media coverage of the time shows crowds going absolutely wild at the sight of the cloud of balloons filling the sky. However for Cleveland nothing works out that simply.
The wave of balloons engulfing Terminal Tower, Courtesy of Brian T. Miller
Disaster
At 1:50 PM shortly after the balloons were released a major storm rolled in from the Great Lakes changing the air pressure and forced the balloons back down into the city. Chaos ensued as they covered roadways and obstructed drivers view, several crashes ensued however none were fatal. The runway of the local airport had to be shutdown as balloons covered the tarmac. In one case the rubber orbs set down on a farmers field and spooked several of his prize-winning horses causing them to sustain permanent injuries. The farmer later sued the city for $100,000, over a quarter million in today's money.
Boaters picking up balloons from Lake Erie, Courtesy of Rojak Daily
Most tragically the balloons disrupted a Coast Guard search and rescue mission happening over Lake Erie. Two fishermen named Raymond Broderick and Bernard Sulze went missing after a boating trip and the Coast Guard could not launch their helicopter to find them due to the amount of balloons floating around. When they were finally able to lift off they had a difficult time spotting the men as the balloons filling the water obstructed their view; the Coast Guard’s boats had a similar issue as they often mistook the brightly colored spheres for one of the men in a life vest. Unfortunately both men drowned and their bodies were later recovered washed up on shore. Two years after the incident, the wife of one of the men sued United Way for $3.2 million, the suit was later settled for an undisclosed amount.
Balloons floating on top of Lake Erie, Courtesy of The Weather Channel
Canada was even affected by the event as most of the supposedly biodegradable balloons began washing up on their shores. For weeks the balloons filled Canadian waterways and beach goers had to wade through a literal sea of balloons. Unsurprisingly the wildlife and ecosystem was also affected as the deflated bulbs clogged waterways and choked animals before they completely degraded. Cleveland ended up paying millions in lawsuits and cleanup costs, far outweighing the money raised in the fundraiser. As an unsweet cherry on top the Guinness Book of World Records refused to recognize the event after the negative impact it made.
Balloons floating all around Terminal Tower, Courtesy of Gizmodo
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Personal Thoughts
When I first heard about this I couldn’t believe it was real at first just due to the impact the balloons would have on the environment but no this actually happened. I just can’t believe the DNR or someone didn’t step in and say that they can’t do this. Especially in the 80s when conservation was really starting to pick up steam. I understand the balloons were biodegradable but that process takes a while, they’re still going to be a nuisance for a long time. Honestly, I thought it was pretty funny when I found out the Guinness Book of World Records refused to recognize it.
I will say that it is a pretty sight from the pictures I have seen and understand people being excited about it. Especially in Cleveland where they had been battling an image crisis for well over a decade. Stories like this where everything goes wrong I always get a good laugh out of because it’s just so comical, it’s like a comedy sketch almost. Of course it is sad that two men lost their due to the incident and I tried to somewhat honor them by actually putting their names unlike a lot of other articles I read during research.
Sources
https://weather.com/science/environment/news/day-15-million-balloons-unleashed-total-chaos-cleveland-20140615
http://www.pbs.org/pov/balloonfest/
https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2016/09/balloonfest_86_-_clevelands_cr.html
