The Doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of '86 

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

*environment has left the chat.*

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!

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?

They probably thought the balloons would end up in space.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

this is like something you'd see on the Simpsons

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

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!

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.

Pollution 101

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!"

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.

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

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.

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

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

“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.

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

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??

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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.

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

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"???

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

Oh the 80s what a time to be alive

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

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

So this is what the turtles have been choking on.

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

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

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

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

Pollution was discovered 1987. People in 1986:

Cleveland’s Club-a-baby-seal day in April 2024 will be wild. Making reservations now.

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

By my calculations, about 6,500lbs of rubber released into the environment. Boy the 80's were a heck of a time....

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

"We're not sure where the 1,000,000 balloons went but since we can't see them anymore it's no longer our problem and I'm sure it's fine..."

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

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

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

The dangers of balloons to the environment and wildlife were well known when this atrocity was orchestrated.

Pollution on the next level

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

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

Can't believe Big Chuck and Little John hosted it lmao

It's 2018 how many people are watching this and thinking to themselves "how many of them balloons are still on the bottom of that lake bed?"

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

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

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

“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”*

"We focus more on if we could rather than we should"

I like how Guinness just didn't recognize it because. Like, they only accept records if it makes them happy.

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:

34 years later. "Why are our waters so polluted?"

I genuinely can’t understand why they thought this was a good idea. What about planes? What about heavy winds? What about all the plastic?!

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Guinness didn't even recognize it. Ouch.

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.

They won the World Record for trashing out the largest area with dead balloons.

"There is no mistake by the lake anymore."

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

*_WHEN WILL YOU LEARN, THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES_*

What goes up will always eventually come back down in some form.

I like how they say it went horribly wrong because the balloons mostly landed in the lake.. whereas if they had all landed somewhere else it would have been a success?

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.

I am so glad guinnes world records didn't recognise this record.

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

"There is no 'mistake on the lake' any more"... as a colossal mistake is taking place.

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

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

"It's no longer the butt of jokes or anything..." ~12 years later~ 🎵Fun times in Cleveland todaaaay. It's CLEVE-LAND...🎵

I’m gonna tell my kids this was the movie up

People: This millennial generation is the generation that is going to screw this planet up. Cleveland 1986: **Nervous Sweating** *Yeah ikr lmao*

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

Not only this but many of the balloons came down on the local freeways and roads causing many accidents. It shiut down the freeway for hours.

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

My braincells all just exploded hearing them say, “its not posing a threat to fish and wildlife”

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

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