Another one of those party balloon lawn chair events gone bad.
Priest on party-balloons flight goes missing
They say it's not that rare, yet they only cite one other instance (although I know of two)

He left in the rain and got blown off course.

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He had hopes of going to the west, but the mid-altitude winds were surrounding a low pressure area and were blowing south in that spot. Also, he didn´t know how to operate the gps he was carrying [he asked for someone who could teach him when he was already descending].

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

Good; I was hoping you would chime in with some details.
And why he didn't call it off at that point is one of the issues.
That might be an important thing to know.
Never too late to learn, is it?

Also; I'm having a hard time grasping the thought of raising money for truck stops.
Is there a big problem in that area where a commercial or government venture doesn't have the incentive?

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"spiritual rest stop" might be something hard to get governments or private industry to build.

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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

I didn´t see the CNN video, so, sorry if I didn´t add more.

Well that´s because he doesn´t know a thing about meteorology [by what I´ve seen from his TV interviews]. Lets say he puts too much reliance on faith.

As for details, this site says that the rescue team says [this morning] there´s is 70% [?] chance that he´s alive. It seems "he had knowledge of diving and survival in water (...) he carried water and cereal bars (...) the impermeable ballast sacks he carried could be used for floating (...)"

Problem is that the sea is quite agitated there right now [30-feet waves were reported yesterday]. I hope he makes it.

Well, if you´re a NGO type you have to have a public discourse, no? There are plenty of commercial truck stops in his state [well, Brazil is a truck country]. What he wanted was free ones [gathering points so he could proselytize. He´s a priest, you know...]

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

I'd offer a Darwin award, but that doesn't seem applicable in this case.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

For those who'd rather not watch the video.I bet the rescue mission winds up costing more than he raised.

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04
Tuckers! Science! Automotive Oddities! Boycott Trek XI! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast

From the Chinese [!] site: "He knew what he was doing and was fully prepared for any kind of mishap."

Well, he didn´t seem quite comfortable with the GPS on his distress call aired on Brazilian TV last night...

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

Depends on the individual, it would seem.

I understand another balloonist went missing a while back. It was a hot air balloon manned by a politician who, it was determined, died from asphyxiation somewhere in the upper stratosphere.

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Well, at least he was wearing a thermal suit...

However, he was apparently missing a few key pieces of equipment...

1. Radio that works on both maritime and aviation bands (121.5/243.0)

2. Spare battery.

3. One-man life raft.

4. Personal floatation device.

5. Signal mirror.

6. Something with which to pop balloons to keep the altitude to a reasonable maximum

7. An altimeter, so he might know how high he was in the first place.

8. A weather report (rule number one for balloonists - no ballooning near thunderstorms, or even rain clouds, as the updrafts and downdrafts can easily exceed the ascent / descent capability).

9. And perhaps the most important thing he forgot: A sense of good judgement.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

You would die long before you reached the stratosphere (which begins around 60,000 feet).

Several minutes at 35,000 is enough to do it, if you're not acclimated. If you are acclimated, try 40,000 feet (a mile higher).

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

Hold the phone...

Well, a satellite phone isn't bad...

1. Was it waterproof, or at least sealed in a water-tight plastic bag?

2. What's the water temp in Brazil this time of year? Was he wearing a wetsuit?

3. The chair may have been "floatable," but why no personal floatation device?

4. Still no personal life raft, weather report, or sound judgement. Therefore, the "fully prepared" comment is SO wrong, as is the "he knew what he was doing" part.

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I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. Human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

Sigh. Try referencing the word "joke." It's a reference to political hot air?

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

It went over my head too.

Re: Darwin award

I figured if he was a priest, this made it moot.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

I expect he drifted over Phoenix, Arizona, and tried to spell out ajuda with lights.

(See topic Phoenix UFO.)

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It depends on your location. For the states of Parana/Santa Catarina [the south], it is about 20 C.

Because ending up on the sea was the last thing he expected.

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

Obviously, he was never a Boy Scout.

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04
Tuckers! Science! Automotive Oddities! Boycott Trek XI! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast