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Cleveland: 1.5 million balloons Earth: Can you don't

lol, reporter says they're not sure where the balloons went, but "at least they're not posing any threat to fish and wildlife." does she think the balloons just magically disappeared?

The classic line "Just because we can, doesn't mean we should" fits well here.

I love how the guy says, "It is a happening city, we are on the move, it's no longer the butt of jokes" and because of this, Cleveland became even more of a butt of jokes. The wife of one of the fishermen ended up suing the United Way of Cleveland and the company that organized the balloon release for $3.2 million, and later settled on undisclosed terms. The balloons also landed on someone's pasture and spooked a farmer's Arabian horses which led to the horses having permanent injuries. The farmer sued United Way of Cleveland as well for 100K in damages and settled on undisclosed terms. The balloons even caused traffic collisions! Drivers swerved to avoid the slow-motion blizzards of the balloons or took their eyes off the road to gawk at the overhead spectacle. Motorists on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway ran into fences and each other before the roadway was shut down. A bulldozer was actually needed to help clear away all the balloons!

this is like something you'd see on the Simpsons

*environment has left the chat.*

“There is no mistake on the lake anymore!” *Created world record-breaking mistake*

That "there is no mistake on the lake anymore, CLEVELAND!" made me chuckle

1986 was also the year of Chernobyl, the space shuttle challenger explosion and the year I was born. All disasters.

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

I'm an avid hiker, and I make it a point to carry a trash bag in my backpack wherever I go so that I can pick up trash on and around the trails I hike as I come back from wherever I was going. Balloons are by far the most often picked up trash items that I find. It's not even close. Thanks Cleveland.

The fact that an entire city thought this was a good idea is just astounding. would have never guessed those balloons would ever come down to earth. Incredibly unpredictable.

They probably thought the balloons would end up in space.

2:32 "Our friends in LA think we're nuts." They're not wrong.

This was a fundraiser for United Way but ended up costing them more than they got, plus two lawsuits, one for the fishermen and one for injured horses who got spooked. They actually thought that "the balloons would reach an altitude where they popped and disintegrated.". Burke Lakefront Airport had to shut down as well as Cleveland Memorial Shoreway because of accidents. Guinness did actually recognize it in 1988 but they took it out after that because of the huge negative impact it had and stopped accepting that type of world records.

Imagine being a pilot flying a jet plane at that very moment and a swarm of balloons are now in your way in the air because of Balloonfest '86!

1750: _Land Pollution_ 1860: _Water Pollution_ 1900: _Air Pollution_ 1950: _Noise Pollution_ 1986: _Balloon Pollution_

I never thought something as stupid as this kind of event happened.

My family and I lived in Hamilton, Ontario and in those days we would have had no idea about the balloon launch in Cleveland. We did see several balloons in the sky over our city but really thought nothing of it. We then heard on the local radio news that people were reporting seeing balloons, and it was mentioned about the balloons from the launch making their way to Canada.

This is an example of what can be called "colective histeria", everyone got their hypes up and no one wants to be the party pooper for a whole town, everyone is influenced by the energy and happines.

This was one of the most idiotic human events ever recorded.

Humanity: already struggling with trying to save the environment before it’s too late Cleveland: B A L L O O N

"There is no mistake on the lake anymore" with this event ironically being the worst mistake the city has ever made, that is quite fitting to say. It's a shame because you could feel the community coming together for this so to turn into a disaster is so ironic but fittingly Cleveland. Though considering this is 1986 and happened a few months after Chernobyl, they probably figured it wasn't the worst thing to happen that year. But 5:46 isn't true. The 1988 copy of the Guinness Book of World Records DID recognize Balloonfest '86 as a world record. However, because of the effects of what the event caused, it no longer measures events that are harmful to the environment. Also...the anchor at 0:38 does realize that winds are named from where they come, right? In other words, if you have a northerly wind, the balloons would move to the south. To move to the north, you need a southerly wind. So what happened was a southerly wind. And, at 5:49, does the reporter think the balloons that landed on the lake just evaporated? Smh

the reason why it wasnt recognized by Guinness is because if they did, it would cause more places to start doing this. and the affects would be enormous.

“Our friends in LA think we’re nuts” They were right.

“No one is quite sure where they went” “But at least they’re no longer posing a threat to the fish and wildlife” ... HUMANS = out of sight out of mind.

“Cleveland it’s your time, we are on the move, no longer the butt of jokes!” 😂😅😂😅😂😂😂

I kinda remember this. I was 4 when this happened. I remember my parents watching it on the news. Man, those really were the days when everyone wanted to get into the Guinness book. Such a strange, arbitrary thing.

Imagine being a bird during that No other birds would believe that bird

The ending report is the best part..."We don't know where the balloons are, but at least they aren't hurting the environment, wherever they are!"

I was there as a kid. I remember the drive home on the shoreway afterwards being especially harrowing. thousands of balloons falling out of the sky, people driving like maniacs. No joke, they darkened the sky, there were so many.

"There is no mistake on the lake anymore." Gotta love the irony of that statement.

2019: helium shortage and 5% of the ocean is plastic. Cleveland: nothing to see here

All that "hard work" only for the Guinness Book of World Records to say "Nah that ain't it chief".

"There is no mistake on the lake anymore" is probably the funniest sentence in this whole video

I like how you can tell the exact moment the announcer is like "Wait, why did we do this?"

That sorta sums up the 80's. Reckless disregard for everything around you in the name of vanity

Pollution 101

Oh the 80s what a time to be alive

Pollution was discovered 1987. People in 1986:

So this is what the turtles have been choking on.

"Majority of the ballons ended up in Canada" *_Canada will remember this_*

I was two years old when this happened, I remember it well!

The title of this video is amazing

"No one's quite sure where the balloons went" In the turtle's stomach.

Scientists: Helium is a precious and non-renewable element that we need for important hospital equipment and we're running out of it fast Cleveland:

The intro started right as i opened cs source and the valve theme was so fitting

Even the most causal observer could tell you releasing one million balloons is not a good idea.

"They ended up in Canada" Thanks America, your gifts never stop.

Just substitute "Springfield" for "Cleveland" and you've got yourself a classic Simpsons episode.

it is like "lets release 1.5m plastic bags into the wild, just inflate them first"

absolutely crazy that this got through planning stages and was done.... but its undeniably one of the coolest visuals ive ever seen

5:50 "But the balloons that covered the lake and caused concern on Saturday are no longer here... No one knows where they went, but at least they're not posing threat to fish and wildlife and their not littering the lake" Environmentalism in the 1980's.

“The Majority of the Balloons ended up in Canada.” The US aren’t being very good neighbours.

I didn’t see helium filled balloons until I came out to the west. When we were kids, we used to fill up the balloons ourselves by blowing into them , then rub it against our hair and the static made them cling to the walls. That was the game of fun in itself. Perhaps helium was not made for that reason.

Whoever put this video together is goated

Two things are infinite: The universe and... HUMAN STUPIDITY.

I can't believe the reporter said " No one knows where they went, but they're not endangering the environment anymore" .... nobody went out and collected them! Where does she think they went??

"There is no more mistake on the lake!" the announcer triumphantly cried, as they were making the biggest mistake of their lives.

fascinating!!

"The majority of the balloons ended up in Canada." How not to keep a friendly relationship with your neighbors, a guide by Cleveland.

“No one’s quite sure where they went, but at least they’re no longer posing a threat to fish and wildlife and they’re not littering the lake.” *A strong example of “out of sight out of mind”*

I was 16 when this disaster happened. I lived in Lorain at the time, it covered the news and they were like, yeah we did it. We are Sparta!!! Honestly most people were pulling their hats down over their eyes and trying to walk by unnoticed.

The fact that an entire city thought this was a good idea is just astounding.

That was the most sophisticated form of a littering I have ever seen.

"There's no threat to the wildlife" Cleveland will forever be made fun of. This is just another reason.

People were slow back then. So many people thought this was a great idea. Wow.

No one in the 80's really seemed to consider the consequences of anything.

This is why Cleveland is known as the mistake on the lake

All of these balloons going up in the sky is the equivalent of playing mine sweeper with a flock of seagulls.

Me: this can't be real New reporters: you can't make this stuff up

Girl: Has three blisters Reporter: "ArE Ya HaViN A gOoD tImE"

Legend has it Mary Ellen's watch is still floating out there..

“Come on down to Cleveland Town, everyone! Home of a very chaotic world record!”

I need the Canadian perspective of seeing these balloons on the lake😂😂😂

Legend says Mary is still waiting for her watch to return

Expo 86 in Vancouver also happened on that year. Way better than releasing 1.5 million balloons

This is exactly the kind of thing I could imagine South Park doing in one of their Canada episodes. I can see Stephen Abootman, tired of being laughed at by other countries, organizing an event like this to show the world how Canada is a real country. Before releasing the balloons Mr. Abootman would give a speech to the crowd like the guy in the interview, saying "Canada, it's your time. It's time to say 'yes.' It's time to say 'it is a happening country.' We are on the move. We are no longer the butt of jokes." The event would then trigger a border incident with most of the balloons ending up in Alaska and the US thinking they were more spy balloons. The episode would eventually end with Canadians once again setting Mr. Abootman adrift on a piece of ice with his two assistants.

They’re not littering the lake and no longer a threat to wildlife? Lady those ballons popped and probs ended up in thousands of fish stomachs

Canada: ah, just another day being eco friendl- Cleveland: *Blows tons of plastic over*

Dang. I thought the end was just the beginning. Nice film!

This disaster aside, what impresses me is that this is the most typical 80's stuff I've seen.

2:26 did he just say that by releasing 1.5 million balloons Cleveland would no longer be the butt of jokes because how tf does that work

I love how much all of this must've went through and no one ever paid attention to the fact this was a terrible, high-pollution idea.

This is not a disaster. This is two people drowning, and it being blamed on balloons.

I'm a third generation Clevelander who left for good in early 1986. So I was fortunate enough to be there when the river AND Mayor Ralph Perk's hair caught fire in 1969, but unfortunately I just missed this historic balloon event. My daughter once asked me why I had such a finely tuned sarcastic self depreciating sense of humor....and I just told her to Google Cleveland. She gets it now.

They were planning this for 6 MONTHS and no one raised their hand and said, "Hey, this is incredibly stupid, let's not do this"???

That’s the most sophisticated form of littering I’ve ever seen.

This was almost four decades ago, and we thought it was fine at the time. What are we doing NOW, that in 40 years’ time, we will ALSO look back in complete horror???

Broken the Guinness book of world records in the largest single intentional littering violation category.

They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.

The best part is that Guinness didn't even recognize the event.

it’s so unsettling when they said that the bodies of the two men were found ashore, i don’t know why it gives me this uncanny feeling.

Honestly, I don’t think they knew that this would happen but you live and you learn

Cleveland: YEAH Canada: Do u mind

Pollution on the next level

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Community is a beautiful thing.

It's like watching some strange, surreal apocalypse.