On Oct. 20, on his last attempt, Tom Morgan, a British adventurer, sat in a chair and flew into the sky on the strength of a few dozen giant, helium-filled balloons. It was all reminiscent of a certain movie.
Morgan had, earlier, tried the stunt from Botswana, but the weather wouldn’t cooperate. Finally, on his last reserves of helium, he moved the attempt to outside Johannesburg and hoped for the best, according to the BBC. It went off pretty well, according to video captured at the scene. Morgan got as high as 8,000 feet, and traveled around 15 miles while being in the air for some two hours.
From the BBC:
Describing the experience as “unbelievably cool”, Mr Morgan also admitted feeling “somewhere between terrified and elated” as he rose in the air.
As the balloons drifted towards the inversion layer of the atmosphere - where the temperature rises - he said the flight started to accelerate very quickly.
“I had to keep my cool and start gradually cutting the balloons.”
That’s fucking terrifying. Also, according to the BBC, Morgan was in a “camping chair.”