Brazilian Priest Died After Tying Himself To 1,000 Balloons And Was Discovered In The Ocean Months Later

The ‘balloon priest’ from Brazil showed incredible daring.Father Adelir Antonio de Carli floated above the ocean by securing himself to 1,000 helium-filled balloons, aiming to gather funds for a chapel serving truckers in his parish along the highway.

On April 20, 2008, Father Adelir Antonio de Carli departed from Paranagua, a port city in Brazil.

He wore a helmet, an aluminum thermal flight suit, and waterproof coveralls while connected to a parachute and surrounded by 1,000 balloons.

The Roman Catholic priest aimed to surpass the 19-hour record for the longest time spent in the air while tethered to balloons.

De Carli, an experienced skydiver who had received survival and wilderness training, so he was no rookie, by any means.

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In fact, this was his second attempt at the stunt; earlier that year, in January, he had used 600 balloons for a journey that lasted four hours and reached an altitude of 17,390 feet.

He launched from the town of Ampere and safely landed in Argentina.

For his latest adventure, de Carli carried a GPS tracker and radio to keep air traffic control informed of his whereabouts.

However, eight hours after taking off, the 41-year-old priest disappeared from radar.

Planes, helicopters, and rescue teams searched extensively for Father de Carli, but they couldn’t locate him.

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Two days after his departure, several multicolored balloons were spotted in the sea off Brazil’s southern Santa Catarina state, close to where de Carli was last in contact, as reported.

Tragically, his body was found months later in July, and DNA tests confirmed it was indeed the priest.

Police stated that his body was discovered off the coast of southeastern Brazil.

“We were almost certain that it was the priest due to various elements, such as the clothes and material used in the balloon trip,” Macae’s chief of police, Daniel Bandeira, said.

“The DNA only confirmed our suspicions.”

After months of searching, brother Moacir de Carli said: “Now we can have a respectable burial service.”

Reports indicate that de Carli encountered difficulties operating his GPS device and mentioned feeling “very cold, but fine.”

He had reportedly ascended to an altitude of 20,000 feet and intended to descend to around 8,200 feet for his planned flight towards Dourados.

However, he was reportedly pushed off course by strong winds, and just before losing contact, de Carli allegedly communicated that he was “losing altitude.”

His body was discovered by tugboat workers.

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